Program

Guides: Thomas Grant Richardson and Katy Clune. Join Thomas Grant Richardson (WACultures) and Katy Clune (Virginia Folklife) on a tour of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in nearby Bristol, TN/VA. Thomas served as the founding Curator of Education and Outreach at the Museum’s foundation in 2014 under then Museum Director Jessica Turner. Thomas was part of the original team that wrote policy, designed programs, and set a course for the direction of the museum. Katy has since taken the mantle of working with the BCMM as a strategic partner in VA for ongoing research and programming projects. This tour will be of interest to those engaged in museums, public folklore, song and dance, and Appalachian studies. The tour van will depart Asheville on Tuesday, Oct 27th, at 9AM. We will arrive in Bristol in time for an 11AM tour. (Feel free to meet us there if you’re driving to Asheville.) During the Museum tour, we will meet with Museum Director Dr. René Rodgers, as well as Radio Bristol Program Director Kris Truelsen. Following the tour we will have lunch at The Sessions Hotel rooftop restaurant* to continue a conversation about heritage tourism, partnership engagement, and whatever has been sparked for people along the way. Vans will return to Asheville in mid-afternoon, in time for people to attend the Time of Remembrance and the Opening Ceremonies. *For anyone interested, Katy will take a smaller group to Asheville via Morganton, NC, where that group will visit a family-owned Laotian restaurant, where Katy will introduce you to often unaccounted for residents of Appalachia. Register for your seat on the shuttle. Cost: $55 covers your AFS shuttle transportation. Participants are responsible for museum admission ($11-$13), lunch, and other personal expenses.

(time and location tentative, though it will occur on Tuesday evening)