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Experience the heartbeat of this vibrant and uniquely American culture, expressed in poetry,art, craftsmanship, and song. A curated exhibit of various handmade art and crafts will be on display during all open gallery hours. Friday and Saturday hours will include additional programming: an informative presentation, inspirational poetry readings, and toe-tapping music. Admission is free; donations are appreciated.
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Coffee offered by CHRISTIAN COFFEE COMPANY
Homemade pastries offered by MOUNCE BAKED GOODS
Music sponsored by MATT WOLFINBARGER
Gallery Hours 6:30 - 9pm
Opening night presentation, 7 pm
MATT WOLFINBARGER — Appalachian writer and author
Gallery Hours 2-5pm
Featured readers, beginning at 3 pm:
RICHARD HAGUE — Award-winning Cincinnati writer; Mercantile Library Poet Laureate
PAULETTA HANSEL — Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate
MATT WOLFINBARGER — Appalachian writer and author
Music, immediately following the readings:
JOE'S TRUCK STOP — internationally touring songwriter, folk musician, and storyteller
Gallery Hours 2-5pm
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Artist bios​
RICHARD HAGUE is an award-winning Appalachian poet, essayist, and educator from Steubenville, Ohio. A longtime Cincinnati teacher, former Purcell Marian English department chair and former Writer-in-Residence at Thomas More University, Richard now serves as the Cincinnati/Mercantile Library poet laureate. His many books include Ripening, Alive in Hard Country, and the Weatherford Award-winning During the Recent Extinctions.
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PAULETTA HANSEL is a poet, memoirist, teacher, editor, and author of 11 poetry collections including Understory: A Women’s History of Appalachia (available October 2026). A hybrid of poetry and prose, revealing generations of women whose experiences can only be understood through others’ narratives, Understory is a microcosm of Appalachian, America, and women’s histories. Born and raised insoutheastern Kentucky, Pauletta was Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate.
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MATT WOLFINBARGER is an acclaimed Appalachian writer, author, and advocate. His knowledge, support, and sponsorship helped make this exhibit possible.
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JOE’S TRUCK STOP — Original Country, Folk, Bluegrass, and more featuring internationally touring songwriter, folk musician, and storyteller Joe Macheret, whose songs are based on true tales of life on the road, temptation, nature, heartbreak and“banjo-pickin’, tobacco-spittin’ women.”
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