Show-Me Folk: Northern Missouri Traditions at Murrell Library

The Missouri Folk Arts Program, in partnership with the Honors Program and Murrell Library at Missouri Valley College, will present traditional artists from northern Missouri at an event that is free and open to the public. This event will be held on Sunday, April 15 from 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. in the Reading Room of Murrell Library, 500 East College Street, Marshall, Missouri.

Over the last few months, the Missouri Folk Arts Program (MFAP) and visiting folklorist Thomas Grant Richardson consulted citizens across a dozen northern Missouri counties to learn more about the region’s existing and newer traditions. Mr. Richardson, a professional folklorist and ethnomusicologist, spent several days working on the inaugural “Show-Me Folk” artist survey. With leads from locals, Richardson met, interviewed and documented a number of artists, including regional quilters, blacksmiths, basket weavers, musicians and woodworkers. The Missouri Folk Arts Program will build upon Richardson’s work to identify opportunities to further document and showcase these artists in the region and beyond.

This first public event will present artists from Ray, Saline and Boone counties:

• Third-generation quilter Pam Sebastian of Slater will exhibit quilts from her collection, made by herself, her mother, her grandmothers and even some by strangers;
• Blacksmith Mike McLaughlin of Lawson will display some finished pieces he has forged, as well as some of the tools he uses in his workshop;
• Guitar maker David Cavins of Columbia will show a few of his instruments and, joined by Amber Gaddy, play old-time tunes in Missouri Valley and Northern Missouri styles.

“We are excited to work with our friends at Missouri Valley College to gather these artists together at the library for a fun afternoon,” said Lisa Higgins, director of the Missouri Folk Arts Program. “We hope students and the general public will drop-in, meet the artists, and check out their artistry.”

The Missouri Folk Arts Program is a program of the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency and the Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Established in 1984, MFAP builds cross-cultural understanding by documenting, sustaining and presenting our state’s living folk arts and folklife in collaboration with Missouri’s citizens.

To learn more, please contact Lisa Higgins at 573-882-6296 or HigginsLL@missouri.edu and visit the MFAP website at mofolkarts.missouri.edu.