The West Virginia Humanities Council has awarded a nearly $20,000 grant to West Virginia UniversityLibraries to create a digital collection of West Virginia folk music recorded by Louis Watson Chappell between 1937-1947. The project will last from May 2023 to May 2024.
The Chappell Collection at the West Virginia and Regional History Center is the most comprehensive state-wide collection of folk music field recordings in the United States. Between 1937 and 1947, WVU professor Louis Chappell visited every county in the state and made more than two thousand audio recordings of songs and instrumental tunes at a pivotal point near the beginning of the history of the field recording of folk music.
Get into the holiday spirit by exploring WVU Libraries’ two exhibits focused on “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
Tim Burton’s cult classic film, originally premiered in 1993, has grown in popularity with its whimsical style and tribute to Halloween and Christmas. The movie also has a special connection to all Mountaineers through WVU alumnus Chris Sarandon, known for his role as the speaking voice of Jack Skellington.
WVU Libraries graduate assistant Makenzie Hudson has curated two exhibits dedicated to Sarandon and the many film artifacts he donated to the West Virginia and Regional History Center.
“Sustainable Fashion Design Exploration: Transformation to Zero-Waste,” an exhibit curated by Colleen Moretz, associate professor of Fashion, Dress & Merchandising in the Davis College, and the 2022 winner of the Art in the Libraries Faculty Exhibit Award, is on display in the Downtown Library, Room 1020.
The exhibit includes Moretz’s work alongside zero-waste designs by students in her Fashion Design Management 350 course.
“Sustainability has been at the center of my scholarship across the apparel and textile disciplines,” Moretz said. “Focusing my creative design scholarship on sustainability generates awareness of sustainable issues within the apparel industry to hopefully encourage change in fashion practices. This concentration on sustainability has been an evolution of investigating sustainable design processes through the exploration of transformation, aesthetics, zero waste, and up-cycling.”
The Arts in the Libraries Committee will host a program with Moretz and her students on March 1, 2023, at 4 p.m. in Room 1020. The exhibit will remain on display through May 2023.
WVU Libraries is encouraging students to donate their old textbooks to WVU Libraries to help grow the Shining Minds Textbook Loan Program. Started in 2021 with the goal of providing students a no-cost textbook option, the program is supported by donations from students who have finished with their textbooks and want to help other students.
These donated textbooks are listed in the Libraries’ catalog and shelved together on the 2nd floor of the Downtown Library. Books added to the Libraries’ Shining Minds Collection are available for semester loan.
Donations to the Shining Minds Textbooks Loan Program are accepted throughout the year at any Service Desk. Donated textbooks should not be more than 10 years old. Instructor copies are not eligible. Contact Hilary Fredette, hilary.fredette@mail.wvu.edu, to donate.
The WVU Libraries’ Art in the Libraries committee wants to know your library hacks. They have issued a call for submission for an exhibit titled “Hacking the Library,” which will display at the Downtown Library throughout the 2023-2024 academic year.
“The hacker ethos in the positive sense is about the ability to deconstruct and reconstruct information systems. We invite you to highlight the intersecting values that shape our libraries through your own lens reflecting on how you library,” WVU Libraries Exhibits Coordinator Sally Brown said.
Evansdale Library’s new Digital Photography Studio is now open in Room G19. The studio is available for students, faculty and staff to take professional studio-quality photos. Individuals or groups can shoot group, portrait, portfolio documenting photography, product photography, and video.
The photography studio can be reserved through the Libraries’ study room reservation system for sessions of up to four hours. Equipment is available to checkout at the public services desk located on the main floor of the library or you can bring personal equipment to use. Learn more by watching this video.
“Indigenous Appalachia” is an exhibit designed to increase awareness of the contributions of Indigenous Appalachians to the region’s shared history and present while also recognizing continuing injustices faced by Indigenous people.
“The Humanities Center is excited and humbled to sponsor this event,” Humanities Center Director Renée Nicholson said. “It brings together the Art in the Libraries program, the Native American Studies program, and a tremendous group of artist and scholars, two of which will visit our campus for the opening.”
Remarks by Dean of Libraries Karen Diaz at the Neal Museum of the Health Sciences dedication on October 28.
President Biden recently issued an Executive Order on Promoting the Arts, the Humanities, and Museum and Library Services. In it he articulates this inspiring statement on these institutions: “The arts, the humanities, and museum and library services are essential to the well-being, health, vitality, and democracy of our Nation. They inspire us; provide livelihoods; sustain, anchor, and bring cohesion within diverse communities across our Nation; stimulate creativity and innovation; help us understand and communicate our values as a people; compel us to wrestle with our history and enable us to imagine our future; invigorate and strengthen our democracy; and point the way toward progress.”
I know that here at WVU, our library archivists are the collectors and stewards of the materials that mark our past. Without these touchstones of reality – of life as it truly was – we forget what was, and in fact are left to invent in our minds what never was. But it is through the interaction with these materials that we learn from and are inspired by them.
The reading features three women writers, all graduates of WVU.
“Hosting women writers from across two of our graduate programs is a particular pleasure,” Humanities Center Director Renée Nicholson said. “Celebrating talent that comes from our university’s programs can serve as an additional way to inspire future writers currently studying at WVU.”
Abstract painting by John Gritts. It is currently on display in the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution.
West Virginia University’sDowntown Library is hosting “Indigenous Appalachia,” an exhibit designed to increase awareness of the contributions of Indigenous Appalachians to the region’s shared history and present while also recognizing continuing injustices faced by Indigenous people.
“Most Americans do not know about Indigenous culture, from history to today, but they are a large part of America’s fabric. Invisibility is a modern form of bias,” WVU Libraries Exhibits Coordinator Sally Brown said. “With this exhibit, we hope to both acknowledge the contradictions in the Indigenous histories of our areas and in our collections, and highlight Indigenous stories, perspectives and successes, all curated in collaboration with Indigenous advisement.”
Dr. Jessie Wilkerson, an associate professor in WVU’s Department of History, and graduate student Emily Walter will discuss the oral history project and what they have learned talking to women miners from the region.
The Women Miners Oral History Project aims to collect and preserve the life histories of women in the Appalachian region who entered the mines as protected workers in the late 1970s after decades of exclusion.
The WVU Humanities Center is pleased to present “An Evening with Matthew Salesses” on Thursday, November 3, at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Salesses will read from his work and discuss contemporary Asian American literature, his innovative approaches to writing workshops and other topics. This reading and discussion is a Campus Read tie-in event.
“We are excited to continue the conversation about Asian American writing with this event,” WVU Humanities Center Director Renée Nicholson said. “Our Campus Read, “Interior Chinatown,” brought up some important issues around the Asian American experience. By bringing in Matthew Salesses, we not only further that discussion, but we also have the opportunity to see how writing spaces can be re-imagined to reduce bias.”
As part of its mission, the Art in the Libraries Committee wants to highlight the art and scholarship of WVU faculty, staff and graduate students. The Committee invites current WVU faculty/staff and graduate students to submit ideas for consideration for an exhibit to visually showcase their scholarship in new and experimental ways.
These can present a visual evolution of their work, visualize their research and influences, or answer a research question. Faculty/staff and graduate student proposals should be based on their academic or creative research and lend themselves to visual interpretation with Library consultation.
“The goals of these awards are to provide a multidisciplinary platform for deeper learning, foster intellectual discourse and discussion and demonstrate the breadth of WVU’s creative and innovative activity,” Libraries Exhibit Coordinator Sally Brown said.
You voted, and the two winning sticker designs from the WVU Art in the Libraries contest are available at the Downtown, Evansdale and Health Sciences libraries’ access services desks.
The call now is for photographs of your laptop sticker art. We love roaming the Library spaces and seeing all of the individualized, unique stickers that adorn your laptops, and we’d like to make it into an exhibition, online and in print.
All we need is your name, contact information, and a jpg (you can be in the photo or just the laptop) with an optional short 1-3 sentences about how your stickers reflect you/your identity/passions, etc. The deadline is Oct. 31. Get your free WVU Libraries sticker at any of the campus Libraries. Any questions or to submit via email: contact Sally Brown, sally.brown1@mail.wvu.edu. Submission does not guarantee display. Those selected for display will be contacted in November.
The museum was conceptualized by the late Dr. William A. Neal, pediatric cardiologist, author of “Quiet Advocate: Edward J. Van Liere’s Influence on Medical Education in West Virginia” and distinguished WVU School of Medicine alumnus.
“The Neal Museum is a wonderful place to explore the history of health sciences in West Virginia and at WVU,” Lori Hostuttler, interim director of the West Virginia and Regional History Center, said. “There’s so much history included there, and it is just the beginning of the story. We’re excited for the future of the Neal Museum and the opportunity to share more about West Virginia’s history.”
The West Virginia University Humanities Center will host “From WV to NY: Hip Hop Geography,” a panel discussion around hip-hop, Black culture and place, Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mountainlair’s Blue Ballroom.
Amy M. Alvarez, an assistant professor of English, will moderate the discussion between West Virginia natives Steven Dunn, a novelist, and Deep Jackson, a hip-hop artist. Alvarez is a New York native, poet and self-described hip-hop head.
Also, as part of the program, Dunn will read from his new book “Travel with Nas” and Jackson will perform.
WVU Libraries will host “Collage Art: A panel discussion around collage as an art and therapy” Friday at noon. Preregistration is required for this Zoom event.
The panel presentation is in conjunction with artist Corrine Lightweaver’s collage display currently up in Health Sciences Library through December.
Presenters will be Annie McFarland, WVU assistant professor and Art Therapy Program coordinator, and Linda Rosefsky, art historian. Libraries Exhibits Coordinator Sally Brown will moderate.
Lightweaver is the EveryLibrary 2021 Artist-in-Residence. Her exquisite collage-work is about the “delicate balance between people and nature as part of the story of public, private and school libraries.” The exhibition of collages, weaving animal imagery with people, domestic objects and architecture, debuted at Hastings Library in Pasadena, California in 2021.
Attend in person or register to watch the Zoom event here.
At 6:30 p.m., the WVRHC will be open to showcase its latest exhibit, which documents selected West Virginia poets with materials from the Center’s book and archival collections.
The “West Virginia’s Poetic Heart” program brings together West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman and the poetry of noted Appalachian poet Maggie Anderson.
(Above) Arthur J. “Pete” Ballard, “James Woods Crimson Peonies” 2010-2011. Arthur J. Ballard, Costume Artist and Curator, Papers, A&M 3869, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Peonies were a popular choice of painters, especially for artists of China and Japan and French impressionist artists. French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir said that “painting flowers rests my brain. . . . I place my colors and experiment with values boldly, without worrying about spoiling a canvas.”[1] The same held true for West Virginia artist Arthur J. “Pete” Ballard, who said he too “love[d] to play with color, light, shadows, seasons, the sky.”[2] His “James Woods Crimson Peonies” painting exemplifies this obsession with vibrant colors, quick brush strokes, and contrast with lighting.
“For almost sixty years, I have ached to paint peonies,” Ballard wrote in one reflection upon his work.[3] Born in Welch, West Virginia, in 1931, Ballard won an art scholarship to attend a fine arts school, but he decided that he wanted something more. He graduated with a degree in education from Concord University. Much of his post-collegiate life was spent as a teacher, as he taught English in China, India, Saudi Arabia, and other places.
(Above) Arthur J. “Pete” Ballard, The Register-Herald, Beckley, WV., March 16, 2017.
However, he remained fascinated by art and costume design. Upon returning to the United States, he was an instructor at the North Carolina School of the Arts. He further developed his passion for costumes through conservation of old costumes and his design of historical dolls, which exhibited the fashions of the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries. He worked as a curator for fashion exhibits at many North Carolina and other museums. The Ballard collection at the WVRHC includes many papers and articles about his lectures, exhibits, dolls, and paintings. The collection also contains many paintings of flowers, still life and other subjects (to see more about the collection, A&M 3869, see the finding aid). It was not until his retirement when he could pursue painting further, which Ballard was happy to do. “It’s an exciting way to spend one’s time in retirement. You can make all the mistakes you want, then correct them,” and added, “There are endless possibilities for subject matter.”[4]
There are also endless possibilities for painters when it comes to painting peonies. Ballard noted, “The enormous beauty of peonies has always held a fascination for artists.”[5] In Chinese and Japanese culture, peonies are a symbol of status, wealth, and beauty. In China, where these flowers have been grown for several thousand years, they are referred to sometimes as “the king of flowers.” Since Ballard spent time in China, perhaps he was influenced by different styles of Chinese artists and paintings of peonies and other flowers. French impressionist artists also took to painting flowers, especially peonies, as they offered many opportunities for color and light experimentation. Many of Ballard’s favorite artists were impressionists, as he described his admiration for artists like John Singer Sargent and Joaquín Sorolla, both of whom painted in impressionist style.
(Above) Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Peonies, c. 1880, Oil on canvas. The Clark Art Institute, 1955.585.
Ballard’s “James Woods’ Crimson Peonies” painting demonstrates impressionist influences. The colors are vibrant. Although the peonies are described as “crimson,” there is no one color that defines the painting, which awes the viewer with a wide array of pinks, purples, and reds. Ballard catches the light and shadows of the painting, making the peonies seem life-like. The vivid green background suits the painting well. When trying to find another color to use as the background for this painting, Ballard couldn’t help but paint it green. “The hills were green, so were the trees; the grass was green, so were all the leaves,” Ballard wrote, thereby settling on the color of nature as his background.[6]
After so many years, Pete Ballard was finally able to fulfill his aching desire to paint these bright peonies. The “James Woods’ Crimson Peonies” picture exemplifies the complexities of painting such beautiful, colorful flowers that have garnered admiration from painters and viewers alike around the world.
[2] “Memories and Momentos: Artwork by Peterstown Resident on Display in N.C.,” May 11, 2000, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Box 2, “2000 Exhibition of My Paintings at Gertrude Smith House-Mt. Airy, NC.” Arthur J. Ballard, Costume Artist and Curator, Papers, A&M 3869, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
[3] Pete Ballard, “Memories and Mementos: A Collection of Paintings and Commentaries,” 2000, Box 2, “2000 Exhibition of My Paintings at Gertrude Smith House-Mt. Airy, NC.” Arthur J. Ballard, Costume Artist and Curator, Papers, A&M 3869, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
[4] “Memories and Momentos: Artwork by Peterstown Resident on Display in N.C.”
[5] Pete Ballard, “Memories and Mementos: A Collection of Paintings and Commentaries,”
[6] Pete Ballard, “Memories and Mementos: A Collection of Paintings and Commentaries.”
Ching-Hsuan Wu (center) discusses “Interior Chinatown” with her students in a tea shop in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
This year’s West Virginia UniversityCampus Read, “Interior Chinatown” by Charles Yu, is inspiring students, faculty and staff to ponder race, stereotypes and, possibly, even the confines of achieving the American Dream through versatile coursework, events and social media.
“In choosing a book like ‘Interior Chinatown,’ we not only bring a book of outstanding literary merit to our campus, but one that challenges us to think deeply about aspects of race in America, of the roles we play, and of our sense of home, among many others,” WVU Humanities Center Director Renée Nicholson, who oversees the Campus Read, said. “It balances the weight of these themes with a compelling protagonist and satirical humor.”
