Appalshop

Appalshop is a media, arts, and education center located in Whitesburg, Kentucky, in the heart of the southern Appalachian region of the United States.

Appalshop official logo

History

Appalshop was founded in 1969 as the Appalachian Film Workshop, a project of the United States government's War on Poverty.[1] The organization was one of ten Community Film Workshops started by a partnership between the federal Office of Economic Opportunity and the American Film Institute.[2] In 1974 they incorporated into a nonprofit company, under the name Appalshop, and established itself as a hub of filmmaking in Appalachia, and since that time has produced more than one hundred films, covering such subjects as coal mining, the environment, traditional culture, and the economy. The name was officially changed to reflect changing business structure and goals.

Appalshop also produces theater, music, bluegrass recordings (released on its June Appal Recordings label), as well as photography, multimedia, and books.

Since 1985, Appalshop has also operated WMMT-FM (Mountain Community Radio), a radio station located in Whitesburg, Kentucky which serves much of central Appalachia (including portions of eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia, and western West Virginia) with music and programming relevant to the region and its culture. WMMT also broadcasts live on the web.

During the 2022 floods in Eastern Kentucky, Appalshop and its archives were heavily damaged by water, sediment, and humidity. The center has since been working to recover its archives, with help from Iron Mountain. As of August 2023, the organization has managed to recover 13,500 items, including rare performances and interviews, an interview with leaders of the Eastern band of Cherokee, and materials relating to Black Appalachians. Some items, especially audiovisual resources, are being digitized into an expanded online library. However, employees estimate that about 15 to 20 percent of the archives have been lost forever. The amount of cultural .[3] The damage to the building was extensive enough that a new building in Jenkins, which sits above the floodplain, had to be purchased. The organization plans to renovate the new building to meet their needs, while also respecting its history as a hospital and home.[4] During the interim, the organization retrofitted an RV to serve as a mobile radio station.[3]

Mission
The former Appalshop Main Building in Whitesburg, Kentucky

As stated on its website,[5] Appalshop's goals are:

  • To document, disseminate, and revitalize the lasting traditions and contemporary creativity of Appalachia;
  • To tell stories the commercial cultural industries don't tell, challenging stereotypes with Appalachian voices and visions;
  • To support communities' efforts to achieve justice and equity and solve their own problems in their own ways;
  • To celebrate cultural diversity as a positive social value; and
  • To participate in regional, national, and global dialogue toward these ends.

Appalshop funding

Appalshop relies on multiple funding sources, including endowments, individual donors, and public and private grants.[6] In 2017 Appalshop reported that its funding comprised 10% from endowment, 5% from individual donors, 32% from public grants, 45% from private grants and 8% from other sources.[6]

National Endowment for Humanities

National Endowment for Humanities Grants have awarded multiple grants to Appalshop.[7] These include $100,000 to improve the public programming initiatives and access to their collections.[8] The National Endowment of the Humanities stated that the grant would be an ideal for this region because of thousands coal related layoffs in the region.[7]

ArtPlace America Grant

In July 2015 Appalshop was awarded $450,000 by ArtPlace America,[9] which provided funding for increasing arts and technology training. The money also helped to diversify Letcher County's economy.[10]

Economic Development Administration and Appalachian Regional Commission Grants

These grants were awarded to the Southeast Kentucky High Tech Workforce Project that was started by Appalshop.[11] The totaled amount of money awarded was $275,000. Economic Development Administration awarded $200,000 and Appalachian Regional Commission awarded $75,000.[11] The grants will help develop a certificate program at Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College campuses in Letcher that will focuses on information technology and media production.[11]

Awards

In 1990 Appalshop documentary producer Anne Lewis won the Alfred I. du Pont Award for Broadcast Journalism (Columbia University)

See also

References
  1. Williams, John Alexander (2002). Appalachia: A History. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
  2. "Appalachian Film Workshop/Appalshop Films collection, 1969-Present - Kentucky Digital Library". kdl.kyvl.org. Archived from the original on 2015-11-19. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  3. Tumin, Remy (2023-08-07). "After a Flood, Saving Appalachia's History Piece by Piece". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  4. Johnson, R. J. (2023-10-05). "Appalshop officials excited after buying new building". WYMT. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  5. "About Us". Appalshop. Archived from the original on 2013-08-26. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
  6. "2017 Annual Report". Appalshop. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  7. "NEH grants". securegrants.neh.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  8. "Appalshop receives grant from NEH". www.themountaineagle.com. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  9. "ArtPlace America grants awarded to two organizations – Lane Report | Kentucky Business & Economic News". 31 July 2015. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  10. Barret, Elizabeth (2015-06-25). "Mining the Meaning". ArtPlace. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  11. "Appalshop partners in grant designed to assist coalfields". www.themountaineagle.com. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 2019-04-10.

Bibliography
  • Charbonneau, Stephen Michael (16 November 2009). "Young Appalachian Selves, Autoethnographic Aesthetics, and the Founding of Appalshop". Journal of Popular Film and Television. 37 (3): 137–145. doi:10.1080/01956050903218125. S2CID 145742632.
  • Jennings, Judi (1992). "Appalshop (United States)". In John E. Kleber (ed.). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.
  • Lewis, Anne (2011). "Appalshop". In John D. H. Downing (ed.). Encyclopedia of Social Movement Media. thousand Oaks, California: SAGE.
  • Williams, John Alexander (2002). Appalachia: A History. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
  • Appalachian Film Workshop/Appalshop Films collection, 1969–Present - Kentucky Digital Library
  • Hoffman, Carl (1996) "The Voice of the Mountains" in Appalachia Magazine a publication of the Appalachian Regional Commission
  • Ruby, Jay (1991) "Speaking For, Speaking About, Speaking With, or Speaking Alongside- An Anthropological and Documentary Dilemma" in Visual Anthropology Review Fall 1991 Volume 7 Number 2
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