Traditional Arts
COMMITTED TO PASSING ON THE ARTS, MUSIC, AND DANCE OF APPALACHIA TO THE NEXT GENERATION
Preserving and promoting the music, art, crafts, stories, and other cultural traditions of central Appalachia have been an integral part of Hindman Settlement School’s progressive educational philosophy for more than a century
PROGRAM OFFERINGS
The Pick & Bow After-School Music Program is a low to no-cost after-school offering, offered both in-person and virtually, which offers instruction to elementary, middle, and high school students in old-time music. Learn more!
Our School-Based Arts Education program provides weekly arts instruction in music, dance, craft, and oral traditions to elementary students in Knott County Public Schools with coordinated visits from our Traditional Arts Education Director.
As part of the Settlement’s commitment to exposing students to a variety of art forms and genres, each year we host a number of visiting artists for school-based and community residencies. Follow our events calendar for the latest!
Each fall and spring semesters, Arts & Crafts Clubs are offered after-school at multiple elementary schools in Knott County. Each week’s activities are facilitated by local teaching artists in the genres of weaving, painting, and more.
Appalachian Family Folk Week is an intergenerational multi-day event each summer offering children and families the opportunity to experience Appalachian music, dance, and craft in an immersive setting. Follow our events calendar for the latest!
PROVIDE ART OPPORTUNITIES
Gifts to the Traditional Arts Education Fund provides opportunities for children and the broader community to have increased access to the arts through community dances, after-school music lessons, and more. Your donation will ensure the next generation develops a love for the music, dance, and craft of Appalachia!
DELLENA SPARKMAN - HINDMAN, KY
Dellena has been an instructor in our after-school music program for many years and has seen firsthand the impact of music education on the lives of children.
Music has been an instrumental part of my life since I was nine years old.
The Hindman Settlement School Pick & Bow After-School Music program has given me the opportunity to teach and share my love of music through guitar lessons to other nine and ten-year-old children in Knott, Floyd, and surrounding counties. I feel both the student and I have made lifelong relationships through the simplicity of music.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, provides operating support to Hindman Settlement School with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This project is a component of the ‘In These Mountains: Central Appalachian Folk Arts and Culture’ initiative and supported in part by a grant from South Arts, a nonprofit regional arts organization.
