Fifth Annual Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase

Sunday, September 17, 2006

1-5pm

This one day festival introduces the new class of Virginia folk masters and apprentices and celebrates the graduating class of apprenticeship teams.

Free and Open To the Public!

About the Apprentice Program:

The Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program, now in its fifth year, has drawn from a wide range of communities and traditional folkways to pair master artists and apprentices for a nine-month learning experience. The Folklife Apprenticeship Program will help to ensure that Virginia's treasured folkways not only continue, but receive new life and vibrancy, engage new learners and reinvigorate master practitioners. Learn more about the Apprenticeship Program.

The 2006 Apprenticeship Showcase will inaugurate the new class of apprenticeship teams, celebrate our fourth graduating class of apprentices, and publicly recognize our 2006-2007 Virginia Folk Masters.

2006-2007 Virginia Folklife Master Artists:

* Scott Fore (Radford - Flatpick Guitar Playing)

* Sandra Bennett (Tazwell County - Traditional Fiber Arts)

* Charles McRaven (Albemarle Coutny - Hewn Log House Construction & Pioneer Crafts)

* Tom VanNortwick (Henry County - Automobile Pinstriping)

* Bob Cage (Halifax County - Tobacco Auctioneer)

* Linda Lay (Winchester - Bluegrass Singing)

* Herschel Sizemore (Roanoke - Mandolin Playing)

* Reverend Frank Newsome (Buchanan County - Old Regular Baptist Hymn Singing)

Scientists at CSIRO Livestock Industries (CLI) and the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA), have been working on ways to increase the ‘drape’ of wool in a bid to develop a premium-quality garment fibre for the world’s top fashion houses.

Senior CLI research scientist, Dr Tony Schlink, said the research had identified ways to test the rigidity of wool fibres as an indicator trait for the drape of a finished wool garment.

“The next step will be to determine whether the trait  can be inherited thereby opening the possibility for the development of a flock of ‘haute couture sheep’,” Dr Schlink said.

“So far the development of premium-quality wool has focused on fibre diameter. This study goes beyond that and is looking at the structure and development of the fibres in terms of their rigidity. We have already established that fibre stiffness varies between individual animals.”

He said that although wool was traditionally sold on the basis of its dimensional characteristics, the project was considering the merits of raw wool in terms of consumer demand for a number of characteristics including: the finished garment’s ability to absorb a wide range of dyes, its softness, washability and how it hangs when worn.

“The aim is to develop a product that can compete with other novel animal-based fabrics like cashmere or fine silk at the premium end of the market,” Dr Schlink said.

Whereas wool quality had improved dramatically since John MacArthur’s initial success in the 1790s in selectively breeding merino’s to produce high-grade Australian wool, further improvements were required to meet the increasingly sophisticated demands of today’s niche textile markets.

“Currently, Australia’s ability to meet that kind of demand is being compromised even before a farmer’s clip reaches the farm gate, simply because some of their best wool is packaged in bales together with ordinary fleeces,” Dr Schlink said.

“One of the major aims of this research is, therefore, to enable wool producers to establish standalone flocks of merinos capable of producing high-quality, high-value wool clips for specific markets.”

The research will be presented next week in Perth at the 26th Biennial conference of the Australian Society of Animal Production. (For more information visit www.asap.asn.au)

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