Dr. Francene Kirk

The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center has partnered with the Marion County Parks and Recreation Commission and the Marion County Convention and Visitors Bureau (MCCVB) to enhance tourism in Marion County while improving the quality of life for West Virginians. This collaboration is a component of “Voicing History: Enhancing Tourism Through Story,” an Appalachian Teaching Project (ATP) funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). 

The Fairmont State University Department of Performing Arts presents an original theatre production based on the unpublished work of Dr. Ruth Ann Musick.  The Ghostly and the Ghastly: A Passel of West Virginia Folktales will be presented in Wallman Hall Theatre on February 20, 21, and 22 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, February 23 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 304-367-4240.

A free educational program, “The Dust We Leave Behind: Stories, Games, and Songs from Another Time,” for local elementary schools is being offered by the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center. 

The program provides a fun and exciting way to participate in customs and stories from the region’s past. The program will run Wednesday, October 9 and Thursday, Oct. from 9 a.m. to noon.  

The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center of Fairmont State University will host an eight-week-long Stress Reduction Workshop, organized by the Department of Behavioral Science and the Student Psychological and Sociological Association.  The workshop will be presented by Dr. Tadashi Kato, a Professor of Psychology, Erika Van Dyke, a Ph.D.

Fairmont State University Theatre Professor Dr. Francene Kirk and theatre education students Kelli Cooper and Dino Vergura have been selected to present a session at the 2019 American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) Conference, August 1-5 in New York City. AATE is a national organization that serves theatre artists, educators, and scholars committed to transforming young people and communities through the theatre arts. Dr.

Fairmont State University theatre professor Dr. Francene Kirk will perform her original “informance”9 Before IX for the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) in Knoxville, TN. The SETC Fringe Festival is a performance festival that takes place each year during the annual SETC Convention. This year’s Fringe Festival, now in its 16th year, will feature five original works. Performances will be held on Friday, March 1, and are open to all convention attendees. 

The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center on the campus of Fairmont State University has received a grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council to support the “Diversity in Appalachia Lecture Series.”  This series of programs features scholars/practitioners who will look beyond the "white, Anglo-Protestant, working-class" culture that is commonly believed to represent all of Appalachia to reveal the diversity that sometimes lies hidden in many communities.

The Fairmont State University department of communication and theatre arts is excited to announce a special presentation from Dr. Francene Kirk, the Abelina Suarez Professor of Communication and Theatre at Fairmont State University. The presentation titled, “9 Before IX”, an “informance,” will be presented live on Monday, April 30 at 7 p.m. and Tuesday, May 1 at 12:30 p.m. in room 314 of Wallman Hall on the campus of Fairmont State.

The Fairmont State University department of communication and theatre arts is excited to present “Voices Realigned: Rewind, Revisit, and Remember” an original theatre production. The play will be performed in the Wallman Hall Theatre on the campus of Fairmont State on April 26, 27, and 28 at 7:30 p.m., and on Sunday, April 29 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 304-367-4240.

“Women’s Voices: Memory in Motion,” an evening of stories about love, injustice, tenacity and survival, opens in September at Fairmont State University. Created by students working under the direction of Dr. Francene Kirk, the original theatre piece is based on interviews with women who are age 55 and older.