In the face of a state budget crisis that could result in program cuts and job losses, Western Carolina University is canceling the new CulloWHEE! ArtsFest, a festival of live music and fine arts scheduled to debut this summer.

The two-day event had been set for June 15-16, with a lineup including national recording artists The Manhattan Transfer, David Sanborn, Joe Sample and the Yellowjackets. The festival would have been a major activity in WCU’s efforts to help boost the economy of the Western North Carolina region by providing an arts event appealing to a sophisticated and affluent segment of the traveling population.
“We still believe that Western can play an important role in increasing tourism, and we still believe that we can become another true destination for arts programming,” WCU Chancellor John W. Bardo said in announcing the decision.

“However, we realize we cannot launch such a new initiative when we are confronting the very real possibility of a budget cut on the order of 7 percent, and when we are facing program cuts and jobs cuts. Although the summer festival does not involve state funds, we must conserve all funds as we deal with the budget situation. We will put on hold, until next year, efforts to begin a summer arts festival,” Bardo said.

Tickets for the festival had not yet gone on sale.

WCU taking applications for Mountain Dulcimer Week
Western Carolina University is currently accepting applications for its annual Mountain Dulcimer Week, to be held June 24-29.

The mountain or Appalachian dulcimer is a stringed instrument that is indigenous to the Southern Appalachians.

WCU’s Mountain Dulcimer Week, now in its second year, is the country’s most comprehensive program of instruction and music for the mountain dulcimer, said Lois Hornbostel, director of the summer program.

Many nationally recognized dulcimer musicians, including Hornbostel, Jean Ritchie, Stephen Seifert, Betty Smith, Bill Taylor and Madeline MacNeil, will instruct classes and lead musical events for experienced mountain dulcimer players and folks who want to learn to play.

The week will feature nine dulcimer-playing courses for musicians of all skill levels, two big faculty concerts, open-stage performances, a “dulcimer marketplace,” dulcimer jam sessions (including one on a mountaintop), a barbecue, a “dulcimer orchestra,” and a course in building a mountain dulcimer.

For more information or to register, call the Division of Continuing Education and Summer School at 828.227.7397 or toll free 800.928.4968, or visit the website http://cess.wcu.edu/dulcimer.

‘Hollywood on the Tuck’ festival features student-made films

Western Carolina University communication and theatre arts students will present the fourth annual “Hollywood on the Tuckasegee,” a three-day festival of student-made films, Thursday, May 3, through Saturday, May 5.

The festival will take place at WCU’s Hoey Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. each night. Tickets are $3 per person, $5 for two people.

The festival will consist of short films written, directed and produced by Western students.
For more information, contact Al Wiggins of the department of communication and theatre arts at 828.227.3849.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News