VIRGINIA HUMANITIES FOLKLIFE
"The Virginia Folklife Program works to document, sustain, present, and support cultural traditions across the Commonwealth.
Beller was activated by Virginia Humanities to document musicians, artists, and makers steeped in the folk tradition at the Virginia Folk Festival. The assignment focuses on moments of connection between persons of all backgrounds and medium rather than strictly performance. His images were used for future collateral and promotional purposes, as well as donor outreach and entered into Virginia Humanities' permanent archive.
Whether sung or told, hand-crafted or performed, Virginia’s folklife refers to those “arts of everyday life” that reflect a sense of traditional knowledge and connection to community. Virginia’s folkways include creative expressions rooted in the Commonwealth for centuries, as well traditions brought here more recently.
The Virginia Folklife Program was established in 1989 as part of Virginia Humanities, the state humanities council, with ongoing funding support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Virginia Folklore Society, one of the oldest state folklore societies in the country, was instrumental in the establishment of the Virginia Folklife Program."
