Guest Moderator, Zoe Van Buren.
- Owen Madden
- 3 days ago
- 1 min read
Our guest moderator this month is Zoe Van Buren, director of the Folklife Program at the North Carolina Arts Council. Van Buren’s research has focused on material culture, occupational folklife, young traditional artists, and urban folklore. Van Buren, our narrator of Freeman Vines’ story, weaves together the events and brings context to Vines’ words.
Inspiration is a word that comes to me often when I think of this book, and Van Buren writes about it beautifully here:
“The guitars belonged to the secret landscape. They were alive with their past purposes. The vibrations from the weight of the foot that trod on the front step of the tobacco barn. The slobber of the mule that drank from the wooden trough. the resonating notes in the piano soundboard that came closer than any other to making a guitar that could play that tone. Vines began to make new guitars again in the years after meeting Duffy, but they came slowly. His guitars required wood that inspires. Fine mahogany and the steps of a tobacco bard could have equal value in Vines’ hand. He abandoned even the highest quality wood if it failed to speak to him.”
In addition to her work with the North Carolina Arts Council, Van Buren creates cut paper imagery that possesses incredible depth and movement, utilizing only black and white to portray light in a way that feels original and new.
The meeting is Tonight! 7:30 PM. EST. on Discord. Hope to see you there!
-Owen
Meeting Link: https://discord.gg/TqetHH4A?event=1470126992790782054
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