The Atlanta History Center’s Annual Fall Folklife Festival will have a distinct smoky flavor this year as it focuses on barbecue traditions of Native Americans, African Americans and Americans of European descent in conjunction with the History Center exhibition Barbecue Nation. The event takes place on Saturday, September 22 from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm
Regional cultural expressions also will be explored with feature honored guests from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma returning to their ancestral lands. Southeast folk art, hands-on demonstrations of regional crafts, Americana music and storytelling are a recipe for a fun autumn day around Smith Family Farm, a preserved 1860s farmstead.
This year’s festival highlights include grilling demonstrations; a Folk Art Marketplace featuring some 20 painters, potters, fiber, and found-object artists, most of them self-taught; and acoustic sets by the FlatPickin' Inc. band.
As always, guests can enjoy ongoing demonstrations of crafts and folkways such as blacksmithing and food preservation – and even create their own pinch pots and corn husk dolls. Lovies BBQ will purvey its signature barbecue, and cash bars will offer craft beers and other refreshments. Festival-goers also can explore Goizueta Gardens amid the Atlanta History Center's 33-acre campus, where the leaves will be showing early fall hues.
Recently extended through September 29, 2019, Barbecue Nation explores how barbecue has come to claim an enduring place at the American table, and how it connects us to cultures around the world. The exhibition includes a wide array of artifacts, images and oral histories from restaurants, festivals, community gatherings, archives and museums and private collections from around the country.
The long-running Fall Folklife Festival was launched in connection with the Atlanta History Center’s signature exhibition Shaping Traditions: Folk Arts in a Changing South, a collection of 500 artifacts ranging from pottery to musical instruments.
Shaping Traditions includes two enormous works by enslaved South Carolina potter David Drake, whose story will be dramatized in a Meet the Past museum theatre performance, Clay: Palm to Earth, inside the gallery four times during Fall Folklife Festival. Storyteller Mama Koku also will perform three times in the Exhibition Hallway just outside the gallery.
This program is included in the cost of general admission (free to members). Purchase admission tickets on site or online at AtlantaHistoryCenter.com
FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES AT SMITH FAMILY FARM
FOLK ART MARKETPLACE all day around the Smith Family Farm:
- Chris Allison of Chicken Fried Folk Art, paintings
Becky Altman, paintings, jewelry and knitting
Brian Bohanan of Bohanan Art “Tree Man,” paintings
Mimi Bradberry, glass art
Ken and Judy Callaway, ethnographic antiques, photography, drawing
Rachel Campbell, paintings and prints
Charlie Dingler, blacksmithing and whirligigs
Sandy Hall, paintings
Courtney Johnson of Agape Gems, jewelry
Eric Legge, paintings, with Michele Humphrey of Leaves of Clay, ceramics
Eryn March of Squirrel Brand Preserved Goods Co., small batch pickles and preserves
Kristin Replogle, paintings, prints, cards, journals
Celena Schoen of Muddy Luna Arts, folk pottery
Polly Sherrill (Polly the Potter) with Abbey Hull, studio potters
Suzy Sue Smith with Jim White, paintings, found-object art
Mavis Stevens of Miss Mavis’ Fun House, fiber art
LIVE MUSIC
- FlatPickin' Inc. on the Front Porch at Smith Farm at 11:30 am and 12:30 pm
FlatPickin’ Inc.’s sound can best be described as a country-folk style with an infusion of bluegrass. The group’s members are Leslie Crum, vocals; Terry Austin, acoustic guitar and vocals; Paige Garwood, bass, acoustic guitar, ukulele, vocals; Kirby Black, acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, dobro, vocals; and Ryan McDonald, percussion (cajón, full drums).
DEMONSTRATIONS:
 | Blacksmithing at the Blacksmith Shop all day The sounds of the forge greet guests as museum interpreters demonstrate the historical method of blacksmithing while they make tools for harvest on the farm. |
| Corn Husk Doll activity in the Corncrib all day Make your own harvest-time toy. Each part of the corn plant was used by Native Americans, and the corn husk was often shaped into dolls. This tradition was then passed down to early European settlers and continues today. |  |
 | Sachet and Poultices activity in the Kitchen Garden all day Plants were used throughout history in homegrown remedies& herbal medicines. Explore the uses of these herbs as you prepare your own sachet or poultice. |
| Pottery activity at the Well all day Create your own pinch pot and discover the methods used to preserve meats and other foods in early America. |  |
 | Musical Instruments activity at the Enslaved People’s Cabin all day Discover the rich history of the djembe, shakere, and other West African instruments -- how they shaped and were shaped by America’s enslaved community. |
| Other demonstrations include: Woodworking, Candle-dipping, Natural dyeing, Open-hearth cooking |  |
INSIDE ATLANTA HISTORY MUSEUM
- Clay: Palm to Earth Shaping Traditions exhibition
Noon, 1:00, 3:00 and 4:00 pm Duration: 20 minutes
This Meet the Past museum theatre performance of Clay: Palm to Earth, by Atlanta History Center playwright Addae Moon, dramatizes the story of noted South Carolina potter David Drake. Born enslaved in 1801, Drake – who came to be known as Dave the Potter – was taught to turn large clay pots and learned to read and write, often signing much of his pottery and inscribing the pieces with poems. This revealed his literacy at a time when it was illegal for an enslaved person to read and write. The performance explores the notion of literacy as a form of resistance and its impact on the shaping of one’s identity.
After the performance, admire two major Dave the Potter works on display in Shaping Traditions. - Mama Koku’s Stories in the Exhibition Hallway
10:30 and 11:30 am, 12:30 pm Duration: 30 minutes
Lean in, watch, and listen, as Atlanta storyteller Mama Koku shares interactive Southern folk stories. If the spirit hits, she might ask you to step in front and help her tell it! - Art Workshop: Community Murals in the Allen Atrium
10:30 am – 1:30 pm
Add your art to our three community murals that will go on display during our annual Day of the Dead program onOctober 28, 2018. - BBQ Imagination Station in the Exhibition Hallway
10:30 am-1:30 pm
Created specifically for toddlers and preschoolers, our BBQ Imagination Station is the hot spot for unstructured play!
FOOD AND DRINK FOR SALE:
- Lovies BBQ in the Allen Atrium from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Enjoy some delicious barbecue and then check out our exhibition Barbecue Nation! - Cash bar in the Smith Family Farm front yard from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Local craft beers, wine, and Bloody Marys are available for sale throughout the day.
