Arts

West Virginia Day is being celebrated this coming week, and Governor Jim Justice and state Tourism Commissioner Chelsea Ruby are encouraging West Virginians and those who love the state to celebrate and help build tourism on social media.“It’s time to celebrate America’s best-kept secret with seven days of wall-to-wall West Virginia on social media,” Ruby … Read more

Artists in downtown Beckley, West Virginia, have engaged more than 40 partners in BEX, a remarkable collaborative exhibition set for June 22-30 that includes workshops, installations, a film festival, a maker’s fair, and an oddities-and-curiosities bazaar.More than 35 events­—including a “human library,” three camera obscuras, and a smell-o’-vision demonstration—have been arranged to underscore diversity and … Read more

Wandering an old cemetery, Shirley Stewart Burns considers the stories that headstones tell. And it occurs to her that birth and death dates aren’t as important as the days between—represented by a line drawn between the dates. And that becomes a song.The LineThere’s a line that’s etched in graniteWith two dates on either side.It don’t … Read more

On May 9, Wheeling Heritage will host an opening reception for “Learning to See,” an exhibit featuring the works of artist Rosalie Haizlett, whose watercolor paintings focus on various aspects of nature.This exhibit features pieces she has painted throughout the last year, including plants and wildlife from the Kanawha County in West Virginia the Great … Read more

Children raised in rural West Virginia have advantages that many others may not. Strong familial units and low-crime are commonly accounted for, but they also have the advantage of access to nature.Richard Louv, 2008 Audubon Medal Recipient and author of “Last Child in the Woods,” says children who spend time in nature demonstrate improved concentration, … Read more

West Virginia Explorer is now reaching more than a million readers annually! If you’re an advertiser, you’ll be happy to know that visitors had 1,170,018 opportunities to click-through to your website this month (as of 8 a.m. this morning). If you’re a reader, it means there’s plenty of fun in store as we travel the … Read more

Performed among the very mountains over which Devil Anse Hatfield walked, a new, historically accurate retelling of the Hatfield and McCoy Feud will debut this summer as an outdoor drama at Chief Logan State Park in Logan County. The new-written play breaks from previous performances of the tale that simplified the story of clans engaged … Read more

Winter in West Virginia may be more varied than in any other eastern U.S. state: Its northern panhandle suffers the brunt of lake-effect snows, while its Potomac lowlands and sheltered southern valleys witness only a few blanketing snows per season. Rising to more than 4,000 feet above sea level, its Allegheny Mountains are practically Canadian in climate … Read more