What is AMI?

Through AMI young people in central Appalachia learn how to use video cameras and audio equipment to document the unique traditions and complex issues of their mountain communities.

AMI is a program of Appalshop, a community-based arts and education center in the coalfields of Kentucky. Based in the community media model and the artistic resources of Appalshop, AMI offers an intensive summer institute and year-round media production training with youth, teachers and community groups in central Appalachia.

AMI's goals are to develop the critical and creative skills of young people in central Appalachia and to involve them in their communities and the world by making and sharing media.

Our participants share their work through local screenings with community members of all ages and through exchanges with young media makers from across the country.

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Contact

Support AMI with a tax-deductible contribution so we can continue to support young people making change in the mountains. Checks can be sent to:

Appalachian Media Institute
91 Madison Ave
Whitesburg, KY 41858

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For more information contact
AMI director Rebecca O'Doherty.
(606) 633-0108 (Ph)
(606) 633-1009 (Fax)
rebecca@appalshop.org

Get Involved

Every summer, young people from central Appalachia spend ten intensive weeks working with AMI staff and Appalshop artists. AMI interns experience the practice of making and distributing documentary media - video, audio and photo - while gaining technical and leadership skills and deepening their knowledge of the places where they live.

AMI interns receive hands-on production training, and quickly put new skills to work designing and producing short video projects. They study media literacy and the process of exploring a place through artistic investigation. The students then craft longer documentary videos that explore aspects of life unique to Appalachia. AMI documentaries are screened throughout our home community and at film festivals nationwide.

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