Asian Quilters at the 2009 Cityfolk Festival

There are three artists bringing elements of Asian textile and quilting traditions to the material culture exhibition this year. Each artist has a unique take on historical traditions from three countries: Laos, Korea, and Japan.

Mai Lo Vue was born in Laos in 1965, and came to the United States in 1979 through a church-sponsored program. She first starting in the quilting business in Leola, Pennsylvania in 1989 with the help of an American friend who taught her how to make Amish quilts. After a move to Akron, Mai decided to start her own quilting and crafts business and called it Ohio Hmong Craft. The company is completely family-owned and operated. Over the years Mai has taught her children everything she knows about quilts and crafts, and because of their help, she has been able to succeed and even to expand her business.

Mai Vue’s work is a reflection of her culture. Laos, a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, is bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west. Hill people and minority cultures of Laos, such as the Hmong, have lived in isolated regions for many years. Mai came from a village in one of these isolated mountain areas. She brings the rich folk traditions, lore, and craft to her work, combining the distinctive Hmong needlework with the traditional Amish quilting that she learned here in the United States.

Korea possesses a long history of quilting. Jogakbo, or Korean patchwork dates back about 200 years. This is the special interest of Suki Kwon, an Assistant Professor in Design in the Visual Arts Department of the University of Dayton since 2004. Ms. Kwon is helping to revive natural Korean dying techniques, and uses the fabrics in this traditional patchwork style. She is also working with other Korean women in Ohio, especially around the Springboro area, not only teaching them the art of Jogakbo, but also providing an opportunity for community and a creative outlet. Ms. Kwon uses natural materials to dye the fabrics that she incorporates into her beautifully created pieces, which honors this traditional Korean artform, many times interpreted in a contemporary format.

Rebecca Cross is a westerner with a love for Japanese textiles and dying techniques. Ms. Cross is multi-talented: a bel canto singer, a writer, and a textile artist. The world of music and books fascinate and inform her visual art, which became a central passion when she began to make quilts in 1989. She works in and teaches shibori tying, dying and shape-resist techniques. The exquisite fabric that results is incorporated into her wall quilts, many with specific themes, such as maps, or flowers. Her work has been shown from Japan to Paris. One of her recent works has just been included in the prestigious international juried competition, Quilt National, held at the Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center in Athens, Ohio. She currently teaches textile art at Oberlin College, and also English Composition at Kent State University. She is also involved in numerous textile curatorial projects.

YouTube Spotlight: Bluegrass from Michael Cleveland and Ralph Stanley

Fiddler Michael Cleveland is the reigning King of the Mountain when it comes to bluegrass fiddling. The six-time Fiddler of the Year, Cleveland, who made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry at age 13, is a powerful and creative instrumentalist whose bluesy fiddling echoes past greats like Chubby Wise, Benny Martin, Howdy Forrester and Scotty Stoneman. Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, the two-time Instrumental Group of the Year, is one of the hottest bluegrass bands in the country. Hear them live on Sunday afternoon.



Legendary banjo player and singer Ralph Stanley is one of the Founding Fathers of bluegrass. He’s been on the bluegrass road since 1946, and has influenced generations of musicians with his lonesome mountain tenor voice, distinctive banjo picking and several original songs that have become bluegrass standards. He and the Clinch Mountain Boys will close the Main Stage on Sunday.

Throw Down Your Heart Screening

Come experience Throw Down Your Heart, the new documentary film which follows banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck on his journey to Africa to explore the little-known roots of the banjo and record an album. Fleck visits Mali, Uganda, Tanzania and the Gambia, using his banjo to transcend the barrier of language and culture and find common ground. The FREE screening will be held on Wednesday, June 24 at 7 PM at the Neon Movies in downtown Dayton.

Bela Fleck will perform with African singer Oumou Sangare, whom he met while in Mali, at the Cityfolk Festival on Saturday, July 4.

YouTube Spotlight: Son del Caribe

Nestled among the national and international talent coming to the 2009 Cityfolk Festival are some regional gems. The Cincinnati-based Latin music ensemble Son del Caribe is one of those, having earned a solid reputation among both dancers and listeners as the top salsa band in Ohio. Their exciting and very danceable pan-Caribbean and pan-American sound. The popular 11-member band appears regularly at Latin dance clubs, community events and music festivals in Cincinnati, Dayton, northern Kentucky and southern Indiana. Among the band’s many high-profile engagements have been performances at Salsa on the Square in Fountain Square, the Cincinnati Salsa Congress and the inaugural Cincinnati Salsa Festival last summer. Catch them on Friday, July 3 on the Main Stage.

Appalachian Quilters at the 2009 Cityfolk Festival

by Sara Cogswell, curator of the 2009 Material Culture area at the Cityfolk Festival

The material culture quilt exhibition, Threads of Evidence, is pleased to have Appalachian quilter Maxine Groves as a participating artist. Maxine is from Manchester in Adams County, the part of Appalachian Ohio that borders Kentucky in southeast Ohio. Maxine’s daughter, Donna Sue Groves, will accompany her mother and participate as a presenter, sharing her story of the Ohio Quilt Barn Trail, now the National Quilt Barn Trail, a project she long ago envisioned to honor her mother.

Appalachian Ohio consists of 32 counties in the southeastern part of Ohio, characterized by the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. They are well known for their beautiful scenery, rich culture, and timeless traditions. Urban Appalachians are people from Appalachia who are living in metropolitan areas outside the region. Mechanization of coal mining during the 1950s and 1960s was the major source of unemployment in central Appalachia. Many migration streams covered relatively short distances, with West Virginians moving to Cleveland and other cities in eastern and central Ohio, and eastern Kentuckians moving to Cincinnati, Dayton and other parts of southwest Ohio in search of jobs. Enclaves of Appalachian culture can still be found in some of these communities.

Nina Maxine Green Groves is descended from five generations (both parents) of Appalachian families in the hills of West Virginia. She learned to knit, crochet, and quilt from her mother and grandmother as a small child. After rearing her children and teaching for twenty-five years, she retired to Adams County, Ohio. In April of 2008, on her 80th birthday, Maxine was presented with a certificate of recognition from Ohio Governor Ted Strickland for her accomplishments at an event held at the Bob Evans Farm in Rio Grande, Ohio. Over 50 of Maxine’s quilts were on display at the Bob Evans Farm Homestead Museum in a special exhibition. Maxine’s quilts have been featured in numerous publications and have been displayed at dozens of venues and festivals in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. In 1999, she received an Ohio Arts Council, Traditional Master Apprentice award.

As a child growing up in West Virginia, Donna Sue Groves’ family would make a traveling game out of looking for barns, especially those painted with advertisements. When she purchased an Adams County farm in 1989 that included a tobacco barn, Donna Sue promised her mother that she would one day paint a quilt square on it to honor her mother and their Appalachian heritage. Seeing the blank sides of the many barns in Adams County, Donna Sue suggested that instead of painting a quilt square only on her barn, as set of quilt barns be painted and developed into a driving trail. What resulted from that initial effort in 2001 was the nation’s first quilt barn trail; a collection of 20 squares leading visitors through scenic Adams County. Today, the Ohio Quilt Barn Trail is scattered across the landscape of 19 Ohio counties, and throughout 27 states nationwide.

YouTube Spotlight: Jim Lauderdale

Grammy-winning country singer and songwriter Jim Lauderdale straddles the worlds of country, bluegrass and Americana with his soulful, neo-traditional sound and compelling original songs. Esquire calls Lauderdale a “Renaissance man…whose voice somehow connects Buck Owens, George Jones and Otis Redding.” He’s been quite successful in mainstream country as a songwriter—his songs have been recorded by the Dixie Chicks, George Strait, Patty Loveless, Vince Gill and others—but it is his own genre-crossing music that best captures his expansive artistic vision. Lauderdale will perform on Sunday afternoon. The full schedule is here.



Here's an older video of a live performance of "Lucky 13".

Volunteers Make the Festival Happen

by Noreen Wilhelm, Cityfolk Festival Volunteer Coordinator

The 2009 Cityfolk Festival, July 3-5, is just eight weeks away and preparations are in full swing. For 14 years, the Cityfolk Festival has brought music, dance and great times to downtown Dayton streets, but it wouldn’t have happened even once without an incredible crew of volunteers. Volunteers do everything from setting up the tents and chairs to managing the stages where your favorite musicians perform to pouring the beer and sodas for your refreshment.

It takes hundreds of people and this year, like every year, we’re looking for more folks to help. If you have just three hours, you could help us to set up or tear down, sell merchandise, or serve food to performers. It’s easy to sign up. Register here or call us at 937-223-3655.

This year, Cityfolk is underscoring its commitment to the environment with a new opportunity called “The Green Team.” Green Team members will help to reduce the Festival’s environmental “footprint,” encouraging guests to recycle whenever possible. Other opportunities include assisting with hospitality for the artists, greeting people as they arrive, festival logistics, and staffing Passport stations for our youngest visitors. You can sign up for a single shift or multiple shifts and different jobs. You’ll be part of a great community event, you’ll meet new folks and we know you’ll have a great time!

YouTube Spotlight: Diunna Greenleaf and Blue Mercy

Inside Cityfolk returns from a brief hiatus with a new YouTube series, spotlighting artists who will be performing at the 2009 Cityfolk Festival. We'll kick things off with the amazing voice of Diunna Greenleaf and her band Blue Mercy, who will close the Main Stage on Friday night before the City of Dayton Fireworks.

In 2005, Diunna Greenleaf & Blue Mercy bested more than 80 bands to take top honors at the 21st Annual International Blues Challenge in Memphis, putting the Texas band on the fast track to blues stardom. A native of Houston, Greenleaf is the latest in the long line of blues men and women from the Lone Star State to meld gospel, soul and the blues into a mighty roar. Greenleaf and Blue Mercy have performed at blues festivals throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. She has two albums to her credit, Cotton Field to Coffee House and Crazy But Live in Houston, and was the winner of the Best New Artist Debut award at the 2008 Blues Music Awards. She is nominated this year for “Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year.”