The Urban Appalachian Community Coalition (UACC) will host the first-ever Northern Kentucky Equinox — Appalachian Arts and Heritage Celebration on March 15 at Baker Hunt Art and Cultural Center in Covington.
The free, family-friendly event celebrates Appalachian heritage and themes of home place through live music, author readings, visual art demonstrations, hands-on workshops, and heritage food tastings.
The program marks the finale of UACC’s year-long Woven Branches series, which brings multi-arts workshops, retreats, performances, and cultural storytelling exchanges into Northern Kentucky neighborhoods.
“Urban Appalachians traditionally embrace the idea of everyone coming to the table to share,” said Sherry Cook Stanforth, UACC core member. “In the spirit of a good potluck, Woven Branches operates on the principle that each person in our city carries a meaningful, unique ingredient for our collective home place and migration experiences.”
Stanforth saidt UACC recognizes intergenerational collaboration as a vital, future-building ingredient for arts and cultural leadership.
“Our younger adult artists know how to make a memorable stir,” she said. “They carry a truly inspiring vision for how to creatively express diverse heritage identities, and how to bloom that energy into an amazing community resource.”
Event highlights include:
Featured literary and spoken word artists
• 2023 James Baker Hall Book Award Finalist Melissa Helton
• Regionally awarded Cincinnati Poet Laureates Richard Hague (2026-8) and Pauletta Hansel(2016-8)
• International spoken word artist MoPoetry Phillips
• Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative (SAWC): Scott Goebel, Rhonda Pettit, Roberta Schultz, Sherry Cook Stanforth
Artists-in-Action Demonstrations by Michael Thompson, Jody Knoop, Plein Air Poetry and MagikAwakening
Folk music sets: Tangled Roots, The Farmer and The Crow
Creativity stations: Zine-making, miniature watercolors, pottery wheel, family folklore, post card poetry, song writing prompts, migration mural, and an open mic session led by UACC Place Keepers Matt Farley, Alexandria Montgomery, Maira Faisal, Sheldon Livingston, Morgan Esterline, Elaine Ramage, Aubrey Stanforth, and more.
Heritage food tasting created in Baker Hunt’s state-of-the-art kitchen
The Northern Kentucky Equinox Celebration is free and open to the public. Registration is available online through Baker Hunt Art and Cultural Center.
Urban Appalachian Community Coalition