Appalshop is a media, arts, and education center located in Whitesburg,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, in the heart of the southern Appalachian region of the

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History

Appalshop was founded in 1969 as the Appalachian Film Workshop, a project of the United States government's

War on Poverty The war on poverty is the unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964. This legislation was proposed by Johnson in response to a national ...

. The organization was one of ten Community Film Workshops started by a partnership between the federal

Office of Economic Opportunity The Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda. It was established in 1964 as an ...

and the American Film Institute. In 1974 the worker-operated organization evolved into a nonprofit company called 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 An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

. The name was officially changed to reflect changing business structure and goals. Appalshop also produces

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

, music, and

spoken-word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

recordings (released on its June Appal Recordings label), as well as

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...

, and books. Since 1985, Appalshop has also operated WMMT-FM (Mountain Community Radio), a radio station located in

Whitesburg, Kentucky Whitesburg is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Letcher County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,139 at the 2010 census and an estimated 1,875 in 2018. It was named for C. White, a state politician. Geography Whitesbu ...

which serves much of central Appalachia (including portions of eastern Kentucky, southwest

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and western

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

) with music and programming relevant to the region and its culture. WMMT also broadcasts live on the web.

Mission

As stated on its website, 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.

Related grants and funding

Appalshop funding

Appalshop relies on multiple funding sources, including endowments, individual donors, and public and private grants. 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.

Grants

National Endowment for Humanities

National Endowment for Humanities Grants have awarded multiple grants to Appalshop. These include $100,000 to improve the public programming initiatives and access to their collections. 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.

ArtPlace America Grant

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

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. The totaled amount of money awarded was $275,000. Economic Development Administration awarded $200,000 and Appalachian Regional Commission awarded $75,000. 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.

Awards

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

References

Bibliography

* * * * * 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

External links

Appalshop official siteWMMT official siteArticle about Appalshop at 40 years oldArticle about the founding of Appalshop by Bill RichardsonAppalshop in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting
{{Authority control Appalachian culture in Kentucky Buildings and structures in Letcher County, Kentucky Arts centers in Kentucky Education in Letcher County, Kentucky Tourist attractions in Letcher County, Kentucky Non-profit organizations based in Kentucky 1969 establishments in Kentucky Whitesburg, Kentucky