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Home , Christopher Plummer, Elisabeth Shue, Mark Rylance, Stephen Dillane

Arts Array Spring Semester 2018 The Washington (DC) Saxophone Quartet Victoria and Abdul Sunday, January 14, at 3 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, January 22 and 23 Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. $10 General Admission Abingdon Cinemall The saxophone is a relatively new instrument, invented $7.75 Community Admission in about 1840. Adolphe Sax, the Belgian inventor, An Indian clerk named Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal) travels conceived it actually as a family of instruments, from to to present Queen Victoria () with highest to lowest, much like a choir of voices. And like a ceremonial coin for her Golden Jubilee. The pair form the human voice, it has the flexibility to create a wide an unexpected bond upon meeting, but the lifelong range of sounds, from brassy trumpets to warm winds friendship that develops is threatened by the disapproval and strings. And, a quartet of saxophones – soprano, of Victoria’s inner circle. As the Queen contemplates alto, tenor, baritone – can even sound like an organ. The what her life of service has meant and the restrictions Washington Saxophone Quartet takes full advantage it has placed on her, Abdul brings her joy as he indulges of all that by performing music in virtually all periods her fascination with the country she rules over from of music, from the renaissance to the contemporary half a world away. Directed by . Michael … J. S. Bach to Leonard Bernstein...from Archangelo Gambon, , and Williams co-star. (Rated Corelli to Duke Ellington and everything in between. The PG-13—112 minutes) possibilities for repertoire are almost limitless! Lecture: Jack Wright presents - Loving Vincent In the Gallery at Last; Fred Carter’s Artistic Journey Monday and Tuesday, January 29 and 30 Sunday, January 14, at 2 p.m. 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. William King Museum of Art Abingdon Cinemall $7.75 Community Admission More than two decades after his death in 1992, Loving Vincent brings the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh Dickenson County visual artist Fred Jerome Carter from to life to tell his remarkable story. Every one of the Clintwood, Virginia is finally getting some much-deserved 65,000 frames of the film is an oil painting, hand-painted recognition in the art world. Carter was a prolific by 125 professional oil painters who traveled across the self-taught painter and wood sculptor who operated world to the Loving Vincent studios in Poland and Greece the Cumberland Museum in his hometown where he to be a part of the production. First shot as a live action displayed cultural artifacts from the region as well as film with actors, it was then hand-painted over frame- his own artwork. This presentation by Jack Wright will by-frame in oils. The final effect is the interaction of look at Carter’s art works with a view of beginning to the performance of the actors playing Vincent’s famous place them into the contexts of their origins and what portraits, and the performance of the painting animators, makes these works mostly “Outsider Art” or “Visionary bringing these characters into the medium of paint. Art.” The influence of his mentors and friends will also be (Rated PG-13—95 minutes) discussed.

Dunkirk Coal Country Monday and Tuesday, January 15 and 16 Opening Reception 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Thursday, February 1 from 6-8 p.m. Abingdon Cinemall William King Museum of Art $7.75 Community Admission Many towns in the southern Appalachian region were built on Acclaimed author (Memento, The the back of coal. Generations of miners tunneled their way Prestige, The Dark Knight) wrote and directed this into the mountainsides of Appalachia, digging ever deeper in historical thriller about the Dunkirk evacuation during search of those rich seams of shining black running through the early days of World War II. When 400,000 British and the rock. Wherever those deposits were found, communities Allied troops end up trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk, sprang up around them, built by the companies that owned France, following a catastrophic defeat, a number of the mines. These company towns, or coal camps, were entirely civilian boats set out to rescue them before they are self-sufficient, complete with company houses, company decimated by the approaching Nazi forces. Kenneth stores, hospitals, churches, dance halls, even marching bands Branagh, , , and and baseball teams. Coal Country examines the rich history star. (Rated PG-13—105 minutes) and culture of coal in Southwest Virginia through the stories of the coal companies, the mines and towns they built, and the people who called those towns home.

Earl Carter Sunday, January 21 3 p.m. Washington County Public Library Free for Everyone Meet Earl Carter, one of the area’s finest photojournalists, who has published a retrospective of his 40-year career, Appalachian Album. Although he has worked at newspapers in Miami, Florida, and Huntsville, Alabama, he has spent most of his career as the chief photographer at the Kingsport Times-News. He has provided images to lots of publications and television networks. Carter will lecture about his career and show some of the 224 photographs that document the people and events in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee over the last half-century: early images of the Carter Fold, June and Johnny Cash, Coal Country life, floods and natural disasters, and the everyday lives of people. Sponsored by Washington County Friends of the Library. The Paramount Chamber Players For the Love of Country Sunday, February 4, at 3 p.m. Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church $10 General Admission Music has always played an important part in creating cultural identity. The Paramount Chamber Players presents four composers, each important to the development of a sense of national identity and each created or expanded a musical style that became identified with his home country. Represented are France, Spain, Germany and the in the music of Gaubert, Turina, Bloch and Schumann.

Repertoire: Ballade for Piano and Flute, Phillippe Gaubert Piano Quartet in A Minor, op. 67 by Joaquin Turina Concertino for Flute, Viola, and Piano by Ernest Bloch Piano Trio no. 3 in G minor, op. 110 by Robert Schumann

BLACK FILM SERIES BLACK FILM SERIES Detroit Mudbound Monday and Tuesday, and 6 Monday and Tuesday, February 12 and 13 7 p.m. 7 p.m. VHCC, ISC-130 VHCC, ISC-130 Free For Everyone Free For Everyone

In the summer of 1967, rioting and civil unrest starts Laura McAllan is trying to raise her children on her to tear apart the city of Detroit. Two days later, a report husband’s Mississippi Delta farm, a place she finds of gunshots prompts the Detroit Police Department, the foreign and frightening. In the midst of the family’s Michigan State Police, and the Michigan Army National struggles, two young men return from the war to work Guard to search and seize an annex of the nearby the land. Jamie, Laura’s brother-in-law, is everything Algiers Motel. Several policemen start to flout procedure her husband is not - charming and handsome, but he is by forcefully and viciously interrogating guests to get haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, a confession. At the end of the night, some will live, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the and others will be forever traumatized. (Rated R—143 McAllan farm, now battles the prejudice in the Jim Crow minutes) South. Rated R—134 minutes)

Battle of the Sexes Spread the Love Monday and Tuesday, February 19 and 20 Saturday, February 10 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. 6-8 p.m. Abingdon Cinemall William King Museum of Art $7.75 Community Admission $25 per ticket/$40 per couple This sports docudrama recreates the legendary 1973 Bring a date and come prepared to create! Join us at “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between Billie Jean WKMA for the annual Spread the Love art event! Enjoy King () and (). When champagne and chocolates at 6 p.m. in the foyer the 55-year-old Riggs brags that he can beat any woman followed by a curator-led gallery tour at 6:30 p.m. At 7 in the world on the tennis court, 29-year-old King, then p.m. join WKMA Education staff for an instructional Sip the reigning champion, accepts his challenge. Their and Paint. Take your painting home as a memento or gift highly publicized match soon takes on a larger meaning it to your Valentine! as a milestone in the fight for gender equality. Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. Elisabeth Shue and Bill Pullman co-star. (Rated PG-13—121 minutes)

Joe Reiff Sunday, February 11 Stephen Jett 3 p.m. Sunday, February 25 Washington County Public Library 3 p.m. Free for Everyone Washington County Public Library Free for Everyone Meet Dr. Joe Reiff, Professor of Religion at Emory & Henry College, whose book, Born of Conviction: White Meet Dr. Stephen Jett, retired Professor of Geography Methodists and Mississippi’s Closed Society, focuses from University of California, Davis, who has written a new on the response of the white Mississippi Methodists to book, Ancient Ocean Crossings: Reconsidering the Case the Civil Rights Movement in the . Twenty-eight of Contacts with the Pre-Columbian Americas. It paints ministers signed a statement of their convictions, based a compelling picture of pre-Columbian cultures and Old on Jesus’ teachings to permit “no discrimination of race, World civilizations that, contrary to popular belief, were not color, or creed,” in an attempt to lead white Methodists isolated from one another. Jett suggests that many ancient to work for racial justice. The book documents the peoples had both the seafaring capabilities and the motives failures of the group, but also their successes, as to cross the oceans, and, in fact, did so repeatedly and with the Deep South’s massive resistance to segregation great impact. The book synthesizes ideas from archaeology, began to crack. The book received the 2016 Nonfiction geography, linguistics, climatology, oceanology, and history Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. of navigation to make his compelling case. Sponsored by Sponsored by Washington County Friends of the Library. Washington County Friends of the Library. The Florida Project Lady Bird Monday and Tuesday, February 26 and 27 Monday and Tuesday, March 19 and 20 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Abingdon Cinemall Abingdon Cinemall $7.75 Community Admission $7.75 Community Admission A single mother (Bria Vinaite) lives with her six-year-old This coming-of-age tale set in 2002 Sacramento centers daughter (Brooklynn Prince) in a cheap Florida motel run on Christine McPherson (), an eccentric by a tough but kind manager (). The girl teenager who prefers to go by the name “Lady Bird.” spends her time daydreaming and playing with other Over the course of her senior year of high school, Lady kids, while her mom struggles to make ends meet. Sean Bird deals with the pangs of first love and clashes with Baker (Tangerine) co-wrote and directed this drama. her mother (Laurie Metcalf) over her plans for the future. Valeria Cotto and Christopher Rivera co-star. (Rated Written and directed by Greta Gerwig, who loosely based R—115 minutes) the story on her own life. , Timothee Chalamet, and Lucas Hedges co-star. (Rated R—94 minutes)

Suzanne Stryk: Notes on the State of Virginia Opening Reception; Thursday, March 1 6-8 p.m. William King Museum of Art Free for Everyone For more than 25 years, Suzanne Stryk has recorded her experiences with nature in sketchbooks that are both journals of walks near her Bristol, Virginia, home and scientific documents of the flora and fauna she observes. These pages have served as foundations for hundreds of mixed-media works that blend the natural history of a place with Stryk’s own direct experiences with each environment. In her new series, Notes on the State of Virginia, based on Thomas Jefferson’s 1781 book detailing Virginia’s diverse animal and plant populations, Stryk has created more than two dozen place-based assemblages detailing her own travels through the state and the flora and fauna she observed on her journey.

Janisse Ray QuinTango Sunday, March 11 Wednesday, March 21, at 7 p.m. 3 p.m. Barter Theater Gilliam Stage Washington County Public Library $10 General Admission Free for Everyone Meet Janisse Ray, one of America’s finest environmental writers, who will read from new work, sharing the podium QuinTango, a chamber tango quintet (two violins, bass, cello and piano) based with her friend Holly Haworth. Ray is the author of the in Northern Virginia, has brought thousands of new fans to the music of Tango memoir Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and several by engaging audiences in their sizzling, mind-opening fusion of traditional South volumes of non-fiction. This spring she is the Louis Rubin American Tango repertoire and classical chamber music style. In keeping with their Visiting Writer at Hollins University. Ray writes about mission to bring Tango to new audiences, QuinTango concerts blend musicianship, longleaf pines, rural community, seeds, climate, bogs, and audience connection, and great story telling. Patrons leave a QuinTango healing. Haworth is an East Tennessee native. Her works performance with not only a new-found love of Tango, but with an understanding of have appeared in the Oxford American, Orion and the the heart and history of this art form. Virginia Quarterly Review. She has reported on mushroom Sign up for free tickets in the VHCC library by March 16. foraging, ancient fossils, native mussels, cricket song and long-distance train rides. She received the Middlebury Fellowship in environmental journalism. Sponsored by Washington County Friends of the Library Bright Star Thursday, March 22 7:30 p.m. All the Money in the World Barter Theatre Main Stage Monday and Tuesday, March 12 and 13 Limited student tickets distributed via VHCC e-mail 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Abingdon Cinemall “Downright wonderful! A Gorgeous Anthem to Optimism!” $7.75 Community Admission Inspired by a real event, this bluegrass musical tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the Following the kidnapping of sixteen-year-old John Paul rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and Getty III, his desperate mother Gail tries to convince his ‘40s. Literary editor Alice Murphy enters a relationship billionaire grandfather to pay the ransom. When Getty Sr. with a young soldier just home from World War II that refuses, Gail attempts to sway him as her son’s captors awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted become increasingly volatile and brutal. With her son’s by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to life in the balance, Gail and Getty’s advisor become understand her past — and what she finds has the power unlikely allies in the race against time to find and save to transform both of their lives. Barter Theatre brings you Getty III. Directed by . Starring Michelle the first production of this show in the United States since Williams, , and . its run on Broadway; See it here first at Barter Theatre! (Rated R—Length TBD) Music, Book & Story by Steve Martin. Music, Lyric & Story by Edie Brickell. Kruger Brothers Sunday, March 25, at 3 p.m. Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church $10 General Admission Originally from Switzerland, where the trio first formed, Jens Kruger and Uwe Kruger later moved to Wilkes County NC. The brothers began playing North American folk music at an early age and were particularly inspired by recordings of Doc Watson, Flatt and Scruggs, Bill Monroe, and other progenitors of country, bluegrass and folk music. They teamed up with American bass player Joel Landsberg, inaugurating a trio that has been playing professionally together since 1995 Coming this Spring at VHCC• Keyser-Aday Theatre The Kruger Brothers song writing and composition draw All VHCC employees and students are eligible to participate in the closely from their personal experiences. The result is a catalog of songs distinguished by rich detail and an insight annual talent show that welcomes musicians, jugglers, comedians, into the delicacy and complexity of everyday life. The honesty of their writing has and everyone else who would like to showcase a special talent. become a hallmark of the trio’s work. Another important hallmark of the Kruger Brothers sound is the banjo playing Please contact and composition of Jens Kruger. Jens is one of the world’s most musically sophisticated and technically accomplished five-string banjo players. Most Ben King at [email protected] recently their music has ventured further into the themes and forms of classical or (276) 739-2434 for details. music, as in their 2011 release, Appalachian Concerto. Sponsored by the VHCC SGA and Drama Club Darkest Hour Monday and Tuesday, Mach 26 and 27 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Abingdon Cinemall $7.75 Community Admission This historical drama from director focuses Touching the Sacred on the trials of () soon Opening Reception after he becomes prime minister of the U.K. in 1940. Thursday, April 5 With Nazi armies rolling through Europe, Churchill must 6-8 p.m. figure out how to rally the nation to action while many William King Museum of Art of his contemporaries advocate peace talks with Hitler. Free for Everyone Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, , Ronald Pickup, and Ben Mendelsohn co-star. Directed by Joe Wright. (Rated PG-13—125 minutes) Touching the Sacred Guided Tour with Mary Haviland Sunday, April 8 2 p .m The Shape of Water William King Museum of Art Monday and Tuesday, April 2 and 3 Free for Everyone 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Abingdon Cinemall Inspired by faith, the holy imagery has long been a part of many religions. These $7.75 Community Admission gloriously creative representations of the stories and holy beings began as a A mute cleaning lady () working in a secret teaching device for the believers, many of whom were unable to read. Touching the U.S. government lab in 1962 befriends an otherworldly, Sacred focuses on imagery from two branches of Christianity – the Orthodox and aquatic creature (Doug Jones) who’s being held there the Catholic traditions and how the depictions developed by each are similar and against its will. In time, she and her friends decide to how they differ. These depictions range from paintings of saints, angels, and the Holy help it escape from captivity, even if it means risking the Family on canvas, wood, bronze, and tin panels, to carvings of them completely in wrath of a ruthless G-man (). Richard wood or with modeled heads and hands and cloth bodies which were sumptuously Jenkins and Octavia Spencer co-star. Directed by clothed. Over the centuries, these venerated representations of holiness have Guillermo Del Toro. (Rated R—123 minutes) evolved from teaching tools into a sacred art form.

Parfumerie Thursday, April 5, through Saturday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 8, at 2:30 p.m. Keyser-Aday Theatre at VHCC $5 Community Admission

This new adaptation of the play that inspired several movies is a warm, gentle comedy that follows the tangled tale of Parfumerie employee George Horvath. Just days before Christmas, George’s boss fires him after mistakenly suspecting him to be the lover of his unfaithful wife. Meanwhile, George’s own love life goes awry when he discovers that the stranger he has fallen in love with through a secret correspondence is none other than Amalia Balash, a co-worker with whom he constantly feuds. Love may seem to be for sale in the form of alluring fragrances with their powers to seduce, the puffs and powders, the dreamy creams, the silky lotions of enticement. But as this wise and funny play reminds us, what ultimately matters most lies deeper. This VHCC production with be directed by Dona Lee. Art in Bloom Gala and Dueling Designers Special Events with Colette Burson Friday, April 13 7-10 p.m. William King Museum of Art Colette Burson $75 per person Writer/Director of Permanent Sunday, April 8, at 3 pm William King Museum of Art will host an inaugural Art in Bloom exhibit Washington County Public Library featuring over 20 floral artists from the region interpreting works of art from Free for Everyone the Museum’s galleries and permanent collection. The weekend will open with a Gala followed by three days of special presentations and exhibition viewing. Meet Colette Burson, an Abingdon native who has Proceeds from Art in Bloom support Museum educational and curatorial made a feature film, “Permanent,” based on her programming. memories of growing up in Abingdon, which stars Academy-Award winner , Rainn Wilson, and Kira McLean. In the 1980s, “perms” Art in Bloom Exhibit are all the rage, and 13-year-old Aurelie dreams Saturday, April 14, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 15, 1-5 p.m. about getting one to finally fit into her new school. Monday, April 16, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, when her clueless parents take her to William King Museum of Art a hairdressing academy to save a few dollars, $5 per person things go incredibly wrong. The film is about adolescence, socially awkward family members, and “bad hair.” Burson is the award-winning writer/ Art in Bloom Presentations director of the HBO series, “Hung,” which ran for Saturday, April 14 three seasons, as well as an earlier feature film, William King Museum of Art “Coming Soon.” $35 per person Permanent • David Pippin: Party Flowers, 10 a.m. • David Pippin: Beyond the Triangle, 12:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, April 9 and 10 • Barbara Leslyn: Designing with Succulents, Air Plants & Items 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. from the Forest Floor, 2 p.m. Abingdon Cinemall $7.75 Community Admission Bad hair day? Nope! More like a bad hair life. Set The Richard Williams Trio in 1982 in small town Virginia, Permanent centers Sunday,, April 15, at 3 p.m. around 13-year-old Aurelie Dickson (Kira McLean) Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church $10 General Admission and her parents, Jeanne and Jim (Patricia Arquette and Rainn Wilson). In this hilariously awkward and unique telling full of wit and wisdom of a hairstyle The Richard Williams Trio gone wrong, the Dicksons are struggling through is a highly entertaining major life changes together all the while trying ensemble consisting of desperately to emerge intact on the other side. William Hayes on Piano/ For the Dicksons family, just getting through the Vocals, J.T. Fauber on Drums day is a win. Written and directed by Abingdon- and Richard Adams on Saxes, Trumpets, Trombone, native Colette Burson. (Rated PG-13—93 minutes) Bass, Vocals and if enough *Colette Burson will host talk-backs after each room, Tuba. The group has Cinemall showing on Monday, April 9. been together for thirty years. Richard has written a historical narrative that goes along with the music. For ten years they were the house band for the “River City Radio Hour” at the National Society of Leadership & Success Wayne Theatre in Waynesboro. They are available for concerts, receptions and VHCC is proud to be a member of The National Society of Leadership corporate functions. They specialize in historically narrated shows and are well- and Success, a national organization that each year helps students versed in a variety of genres. They are able to entertain, educate and engage an across the nation discover and attain their goals. The VHCC Chapter audience of any age. accepts new members each semester and invites community members to attend special broadcasts featuring nationally known speakers. Upcoming speakers include: The Post Monday and Tuesday, April 16 and 17 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Abingdon Cinemall $7.75 Community Admission

Steven Spielberg directs and in a film about the Pentagon Papers controversy. The story will follow the 1971 scandal after the decision of editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks) and publisher Katharine Graham (Streep) to publish The Thaddeus Bullard Kathryn Minshew Scott Hamilton Pentagon Papers. Written and leaked by military analyst February 13 February 27 March 13 Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers established that the Johnson Administration had lied to the public and For additional information about NSLS and sponsored events, please congress about US military involvement in the Vietnam go to www.vhcc.edu/NSLS War, and revealed that the Nixon administration had secretly escalated the war. (Rated PG-13—Length TBD) Phantom Thready Monday and Tuesday, April 30 and May 1 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Abingdon Cinemall $7.75 Community Admission

Daniel Day-Lewis’ self-proclaimed “final film.” Set in the glamour of 1950’s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma (Vicky Krieps), who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood). Shakespeare’s Richard III Rated R—115 minutes) Thursday, April 19 7:30 p.m. Barter Theatre Stage II Limited student tickets distributed via VHCC e-mail The Paramount Chamber Players In a Unique Production adapted by Katy Brown. The deceptive and sadistic Richard, Of Bohemians and Princes Duke of Gloucester, stops at nothing to become King. With intelligence, political Sunday,,May 6, at 3 p.m. brilliance, and dazzling use of language, he keeps his subjects and rivals under Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church his thumb.... you might even start to feel a little pressure yourself. Don’t miss $10 General Admission this engaging and refreshing production in an original adaptation by Barter’s Shakespeare expert.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Monday and Tuesday, April 23 and 24 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Abingdon Cinemall $7.75 Community Admission

A dark comedy from Academy Award winner Martin McDonagh (In Bruges). After months have passed TPCP presents two great masterpieces in our final concert, the Archduke Piano without a culprit in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred Trio, so named for its dedication to the Archduke Rudolph of Austria, friend and Hayes (Academy Award-winner Frances McDormand) mentor of Beethoven. The work is recognized as one of the most transcendent makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into works in all of chamber music for both its combination of spiritual and earth- her town with a controversial message directed at bound qualities. The second half is the Dvorak piano quartet, a work filled William Willoughby (), the town’s with folk melodies and the sounds of gypsy rhythms. Brahms, who admitted revered chief of police. When his second-in-command a jealousy of Dvorak’s ability to pour out melody easily, championed Dvorak’s Officer Dixon (), an immature mother’s boy music. It’s no wonder that his music has been an audience favorite for more with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle than one hundred years! between Mildred and Ebbing’s law enforcement is only exacerbated. (Rated R—115 minutes) Repertoire: Piano Trio, op. 97 (Archduke) by Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Quartet in E flat, op. 87 by Antonio Dvorak Rita Quillen and Other Poets Wiley Cash Sunday, May 20 Sunday, April 29 3 pm 3 p.m. Washington County Public Library Washington County Public Library Free for Everyone Free for Everyone Meet Rita Quillen, one of the region’s finest poets, who Meet Wiley Cash, one of the most acclaimed of young will lead the annual “Celebration of Regional Poetry.” Appalachian writers, who has published a new novel, Her new volume, The Mad Farmer’s Wife, is a response The Last Ballad. Set in the Appalachian foothills of North to a life lived on a mountain cattle farm in Southwest Carolina in 1929 and inspired by actual events, the Virginia and also to a poetic persona created by noted book chronicles a single mother’s desperate struggle Kentucky poet and essayist Wendell Berry over thirty for her rights in a textile mill. Lyrical, heartbreaking years ago: the Mad Farmer. In a world increasingly and haunting, it is a moving tale of courage in the face detached from the land that supplies our all our essential of oppression. Lee Smith has said that the book is resources, Quillen’s poetry tries to help us understand amazingly relevant for today’s world, when workers’ the complexity and challenge of living a rural life in rights are besieged as they haven’t been since the Great today’s economy and the dark life-and -death struggles Depression. Cash in a writer-in-residence at UNC- that are a routine part of farm living. She will be joined Asheville and is the author of two earlier novels, A Land at this event by other poets from the Appalachian Center More Kind Than Home and The Dark Road of Mercy. for Poets and Writers. Sponsored by Washington County Sponsored by Washington County Friends of the Library. Friends of the Library. • All Arts Array activities are free for the faculty, staff and students of Virginia Highlands Community College. • Staff members and students of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, including participants in the College for Older Adults who purchase an Arts Array pass, may attend all films and concerts in the Spencer- Miller Memorial Concert series at Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church for free. • All films are free for students and staff members of Emory & Henry College and King University.

For additional information about the Arts Array, please contact Tommy Bryant • [email protected]• (276) 739-2451 regarding film and drama events and Mary Munsey • [email protected] • (276) 739-2454 regarding music events

Virginia Highlands Community College promotes and maintains educational opportunities without regard to race, color, sex, ethnicity, religion, gender, age (except where age is a bona fide occupational qualification), disability, national origin, or other non-merit factors. This institution prohibits including sexual violence.

www.vhcc.edu • 276.739.2400 • [email protected] • Si necesita ayuda en español, marque el número 276-739-2559.

Arts Array Virginia Highlands Community College P.O. Box 828 Abingdon, VA 24212-0828