Berea College Summer 2025 Folklife Apprenticeship Program

This collection consists of audio and video recordings, photographs and transcripts which document the experience of the four students who participated in the 2025 Berea Folklife Apprenticeship Program. This program offers Berea students the opportunity to apprentice with community artists in traditional arts and craft, foodways, storytelling, music or dance, anywhere in Appalachia.

The participants for 2025 were Michael Adebusoye, Anthony Crowder, Jacob Mudd, and Bella Watkins. They studied their chosen disciplines of blacksmithing, storytelling, mandolin luthiery, and weaving and indigo dyeing, guided by their mentor artists Bob Montgomery (Berea alum), Jazmine LeBlanc, Will Parsons (Berea alum), and Sarah Stopenhagen Broomfield (Berea alum and retiree).

The project was directed by Berea College Folklorist Emily Hilliard. It was made possible by South Arts, a nonprofit regional arts organization.