September 27, 2007

LIVINGSTON, Ala.--The University of West Alabama’s Center for the Study of the Black Belt recently received a pair of grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the official state arts agency of Alabama, to continue the University’s work in promoting Black Belt culture. This year’s awards support the Center’s efforts to maintain the musical traditions of the region.

The ASCA awarded a $4,700 grant to support musical artists, such as the Alabama Blues Project and bluesman Willie King, featured at the annual Sucarnochee Folklife Festival. The festival, which celebrates regional traditions and features folk artists, musicians, traditional food, storytelling and more, is held in downtown Livingston.

The fifth annual festival is set for Saturday, April 19, 2008. In conjunction with the festival, UWA will also host the first Sucarnochee BBQ and Blues Cook-off, sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society, on April 18, 2008.

The Sucarnochee Revue also received a $3,000 ASCA grant. Now in its fourth year of production, the radio show introduces listeners around the nation and the world to the artistic community of performers from the Black Belt region. Presenting Black Belt music in its most authentic manner, the show not only preserves original music, but also captures the evolution of that music and its current generation of performers.

UWA’s Bibb Graves Auditorium will host a live taping of the Sucarnochee Revue on Oct. 19, before a performance at Tuscaloosa’s Bama Theatre on Oct. 26. The show can be heard every Saturday night at 10 p.m. on Alabama Public Radio.

“The Center is very appreciative to the Alabama State Council on the Arts for these grants,” said Leigh Griffith, curator of archives and internships. “Thanks to their funding, the Center will be able to continue educating Black Belt citizens, young and old, on the musical traditions of our area.”

The Center for the Study of the Black Belt, founded in 2005, fosters greater appreciation and understanding of Alabama’s Black Belt. The Center encourages scholars and citizens of the region to come together to find solutions to the challenges and to celebrate its success stories.

This year, the Alabama State Council on the Arts awarded 168 grants totaling $2,528,651 to support arts in education; folk art; community, literature, performing and visual arts programs. Programs assisted by ASCA grants have a track record of enhancing community development, education, cultural tourism and overall quality of life in virtually all regions of the state. The ASCA receives its support through an annual appropriation from the Alabama Legislature and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information about the Center for the Study of the Black Belt and its programming, please call 205-652-3752.