Overview

"These Hollow Hills" is part artist residency, part public programming, and part arts and culture festival. Melding art and activism, it will illuminate Western PA's role in shaping Appalachian cultural identity through art exhibitions, workshops, and events that engage our local communities. The project addresses the historical under representation of Western PA within the broader Appalachian narrative, empowering local artists and communities to celebrate their cultural contributions and initiate dialogues on socioeconomic, environmental, political, and folk themes specific to the region. Operating within a decolonial equity framework, the project challenges dominant narratives and elevates justice-minded perspectives in Appalachian cultural heritage work. We aim to reimagine Appalachian cultural traditions in a contemporary context that reflects the diversity of our local communities today.

With a multicultural, interdisciplinary artist residency running from September 2024 - 2025, folkLAB's ten resident artists will collaborate with local folk artisans, community leaders, historians, and activists through workshops and dialogues which will ultimately inspire the artists’ work.

Themes

“These Hollow Hills” will foster cross-cultural dialogue and create new, inclusive folk arts and traditions, centering five themes throughout the project:

• Environmentalism & Ecology

• Labor, Class & Economies

• Folklore & Folk Arts

• The Body & Sense of Self (e.g., healthcare, queer and gender narratives, mental health, accessibility)

• Immigration, Race, & Place

Partners & Collaborators

We are collaborating with diverse arts, cultural, and community development organizations from across Western PA to bring this project to life. These collaborations facilitate resource sharing and inter-community networking, enhancing the project’s impact and success. Organizations include our fiscal sponsor for this project Rivers of Steel and

• BOOM Concepts

• #notwhitecollective

• Vault Art Studio

• Reimagine Appalachia

• Rural Arts Collaborative

• Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center

• and many more….

We are happy to share a full list of partners and collaborators upon request.

Documenting the Project

The project is also being documented by Studio Ragheb. The culminating documentary will chronicle the project’s evolution from inception to finish. It will serve as professional documentation for folkLAB and our artists’ portfolios as well as a stand-alone piece of storytelling in it’s own right.

Our Artists in Residence

What is folk Art?

Workshop Week

September 2024

September 9-13, our artists convened for the first time in-person at the Sto-Rox Library (McKees Rocks, PA) for a full week with folkLAB facilitators and local folk artisans, activists, historians, and scholars to help us dig deeply into our five themes (Environmentalism & Ecology, Labor, Class & Economies, Folklore & Folk Arts, The Body & Sense of Self, and Immigration, Race, & Place) from diverse perspectives. The artist also spent time bonding with each other. The goal was dedicated time to brainstorming and creative inquiry without the pressure to “produce.” Enrichment programming such as this is rare for an artist residency. It helps build a community of practice among the artists and embeds them in their work. We see it as vital to generative collaboration and decolonizing the art-making processes.

Below is a sample of the programming the artists moved through and some photographs from the week.

Monday

• Unpacking our identities

• Brainstorming the five themes

• Self-portrait workshop with artist and folkLAB facilitator Sara Tang

• Q&A with Michael Simms from the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center

• Walking tour of McKees Rocks

Tuesday

• Devising performance with Kelsey Robinson (teaching artist, documentarian, performer)

• Mask-making with Greg Manly (folk artist, puppeteer, environmentalist)

• Grounding in the land with Fitzhugh Shaw (ritualist, educator, environmentalist)

• Tour of the historic Pump House with Jon Engle of Rivers of Steel

Wednesday

• A walking tour of East Liberty exploring the history of gentrification with Chris Ivey (creator of East of Liberty)

• A talk on decolonizing folk medicine with Dr. Tyler Phan (fifth-generation acupuncturist and owner of Abolition Books and Coffee)

• A talk with artist, activist, educator and former steelworker Sandra Gould Ford

Thursday

• A talk on sex work, chronic illness and art-making with an anonymous local artist and sex worker.

• A Freedom Feast with Sara Tang, foods all sourced from local farm Who Cooks For You

• A talk on farming, land stewardship and public policy with advocate and bean farmer Adrienne Nelson

• A talk on queer history and subcultures of Western PA with local queer archivist Dade Lemanski

• A tour of the Troy Hill Art Houses

Friday

• Devising the themes in pairs

• Mapping transformation activity

• Needfinding for February

Next: February Devising & Exhibition