Reclaiming the Appalachian Murder Ballad

MidMountain is curating a zine, gallery show, and arts festival for October 2024 focusing on reclaiming the Appalachian Murder Ballad genre, folk music too long dominated by regressive and misogynistic gender norms that celebrate violence against women, in conjunction with a themed Fall 2024 Fellowship Cohort that will be offered free lodging at MidMountain Retreat from October 1-October 13. 

This is a free open call running until July 29, 2024. Applicants to all opportunities will receive a response from MidMountain by August 5, 2024. Creatives working in all mediums, including creative and non-fiction writing, 2-D, 3-D, and video, are invited to apply for inclusion in the zine and gallery show as well as to join the Fall MidMountain Fellowship Cohort and perform at an October 12 intersectional arts festival.

Look out for more info about our October 12 event soon, but you can put a hold on your calendar now!

We especially encourage submissions for the zine, gallery show, festival and fellowship cohort:

• From people from marginalized communities, especially those who identify as BIPOC, disabled, and/or 2SLGBTQ+.

• From people living in areas served by the Appalachian Regional Commission.

• That reflect on or engage with the historical sources of existing murder ballads. 

.A combined application for these opportunities is available here. 

More details:

The zine will pay 10 selected contributors $100 each for their submissions to be featured in 24-page print zine and online, with physical zines sold to raise funds for future MidMountain projects. Payments to contributors and Zine printing supported by MidAtlantic Arts’ Central Appalachian Living Traditions Program. 

The arts show curatorial team will include MidMountain board members AnaMarie King and Christine Sajecki, as well as MidMountain Curator Andrea "River" Peterson. Accepted works in the art show will be displayed in the MidMountain Gallery, on the grounds, in the Post Office Community Center, and online from October 1 through November 30th and offered for sale with 70% of proceeds to the artists. See below for more art show logistics. 

MidMountain’s Fall 2024 Fellowship Cohort will accept up to twelve individuals to share time and space from October 1-13 at MidMountain Retreat, a five acre property on the James River, to work on creative projects connected to the theme of “Reclaiming the Appalachian Murder Ballad” as well as present as part of the October 12 arts festival. We are particularly interested in proposals that also engage with the natural ecology of the region, investigate the MidMountain site's ties to colonization and human bondage, dissect gender norms, and/or explore marginalized community perspectives. You can learn more about the MidMountain Fellowship experience and expectations here. 

The October 12 Festival line up will include a performance of Fatal Femme Agency, an expanded revival of a show that explores the history of the Appalachian murder ballad genre and reclaims it from a feminist perspective through new songs set in traditional folk settings, but featuring female killers. The show was created by Peterson and originally debuted as Fatal Female Agency with support from Bacchae’s Andrew Breiner at Rhizome DC in 2019. Betsy Podsiadlo, the incoming director of Classical Revolution RVA, and a talented artist with roots in Appalachia, is joining to also perform and produce this iteration, which is supported by MidAtlantic Arts’ Central Appalachian Living Traditions Program. The Laurel Hells Ramblers, a rising gothic mountain bluegrass band that uses traditional music to share stories that upend stereotypes about Appalachia — including a “murder ballad” about her gender transition written in part during their last MidMountain stay while Spring 2024 Fellows in Springs — will also perform as part of the bill.

The festival is also seeking performers, lecturers, presenters, screenings, and other proposals from creatives not able to commit joining MidMountain to the entire fellowship cohort! The event will be operated as a cooperative with creatives and MidMountain sharing net proceeds of physical ticket sales. 

Accepted artists for the Zine and Arts Show will also be invited to vend outdoors during the October 12 festival, keeping all personal proceeds minus a discounted $25 vending fee that will include one festival pass. The standard vendor pricing for the festival will be $100, including one pass, and you may also apply exclusively to vend through the open call if you desire. 

Timeline: 

• May 29, 2024: Open Call launch

• July 29, 2024: Open Call closes

• August 5, 2024: Notifications 

• October 1, 2024: Opening Reception

• October 1-13, 2024: Fall Fellowship

• October 12, 2024: Reclaiming the Murder Ballad Festival and zine launch

• November 30, 2024 Closing Reception

• December 15, 2024: Art pick-up deadline.

Art Show space available:

• Gallery

  • 2D spaces

    • Wall A 57”x60”

    • Wall B 74”x60” 

    • Wall C 63”x60”

    • Wall D 40”x60” 

    • Wall E 83”x42” 

    • Wall F 13”x60”

    • Wall G 24”x60”

  • Multimedia

    • Large projection space, ~ 100”x60”

    • 32” monitor 

  • 3D spaces

    • 1 58”x15” shelf

    • 8 15”x15” shelves

• Post Office Community Center

  • Non-climate controlled 18’x28’ interior with room for large scale pieces on walls and freestanding sculpture.

• Exterior Space

  • Nearly five acres with options to feature free standing sculpture on the lawn next to including on the main house, in the center of a budding botanical labyrinth, next to the Post Office Community Center, and more. 

Gallery show logistics: 

• 2-D work must be wired, ready to hang upon delivery.

• Accepted physical works must be original to the artist (not created with the use of Artificial Intelligence) and identified with Artist Name, Title, Media for submission. 

• Artists are responsible for delivery of accepted physical work, either in person or via shipping, as well as pick up or return shipping of Not For Sale or unsold works. 

  • Shipped work should be sent with a pre-paid, pre-addressed return label and a container appropriate for re-use in return shipping. Condition reports will be made for each work upon receipt. 

  • Unsold work not picked up or provided with return shipment means 60 days after the show close will be considered a donation to MidMountain’s collections.