The chairs Max Woody makes are works of art, but ones that are not meant for a museum or gallery. Each piece is carefully handcrafted for the user; style, size, wood species, and more are all taken into account before Woody begins to craft. He comes from a long heritage of chair makers, and also spreads his knowledge to others who wish to learn.
Known as a master craftsman for his woodworking abilities, Eddie Hamrick has created works of art for presidents and children alike. He follows the utilitarianism of the craft from the work of his father and grandfather, but still branches out artistically as an artist.
Belt is a Cherokee Nation member, native speaker, and language instructor; as an advocate for language revitalization, Belt believes language is a fundamental aspect of every culture.
As a testament to the power and importance of folklore in everyday life, Coyle has made contributions through teaching, fieldwork, research, and service to various organizations such as the National Park Service, NC Folklore Society, and Western Carolina University.
Crawford is a folklore researcher of all the old families between Waynesville and Bryson City, North Carolina. His work deepens and expands the appreciation, continuation, and study of the cemetery decoration traditions the figure in the lives of the people of Western North Carolina.
Howell is a fiddler who teaches, has contributed over 500 fiddle tunes to university archives, and has immersed himself in the music of Western North Carolina since his childhood.
Becoming a musician at a young age, one of McMillian’s greatest contributions has been his teaching career. He began teaching music in a shack behind his house in 1975, and stopped charging them money, instead doing it for free or charging a canned food donation to the community.
Barbara Garrity-Blake is the co-leader of the Down East Cajun and acoustic-roots band the Unknown Tongues and founder of the annual folk-feast at the Gloucester Mardi Gras.
Fazio and Hutchens are both professors at the University of North Carolina Pembroke; they made a documentary film, Voices of the Lumbee, which captured the culture, religious and economic life, and work history of the Lumbee tribe in North Carolina.
Carmine Prioli’s initial interest in boatbuilding evolved into years of caring, working, believing, struggling, hoping, giving, sometimes pushing hard, for the people who build, work, and appreciate not only those boats, but all the pieces of heritage on Harkers Island.