As I reflect on 2025, my first full year as Executive Director, I am struck by the strength and creativity that continue to define our community. This year has been a year of renewal for Appalshop. Together, we’ve lifted up Appalachian voices, celebrated stories that might otherwise go unheard, and created spaces for art, music, and dialogue that help us imagine brighter futures.
Thanks to your generosity, this year, we opened a new, permanent studio space for WMMT 88.7FM in downtown Whitesburg just in time for the station’s 40th birthday. Stop in some time at 253a E Main Street or, better yet, become a volunteer DJ! We began a new series of films called AppalShorts, beginning with Nik Lee’s celebrated Magenta, which takes a look at the recovery of our archive. We restored quilts and busts and chairs alongside film and audio reels. We rebuilt our website and now have a new and improved merch store. We hosted youth at our annual Summer Documentary Institute and released three new films focused on what Appalachian youth find important. (In addition, we celebrated that last year’s AMI film Shoulder to Shoulder won at the Athens International Film + Video Festival!) We visited towns all over Appalachia to sit with our neighbors—from Neon Days in Fleming-Neon, Kentucky, to the Hellbender Festival in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. We reached 15K subscribers on YouTube! We danced with Pick & Bow students and Knox Honkers & Bangers at our free Seedtime on the Cumberland festival and began planning for the 40th anniversary of the festival (save the date for June 6, 2026). We hosted film screenings and trained DJs and taught labs and—most importantly—had fun!
We are rebuilding and renewing Appalshop both externally and internally. While we were moving into new office spaces this year, we were also updating our organizational structure, making our staff and board roles clearer and more effective. Together, we dug into strategic planning and invested time in leadership training, prioritizing a work culture of accountability and respect.
Your support has helped Appalshop bring on familiar and local faces into critical roles, like Archive co-founder Chad Hunter (Archive Director) and lifelong Letcher Countian Brandon Jent (Director of Development). We’re excited to bring the very best of Appalshop’s history and legacy into a new era of collaboration and creativity—one that we co-create together with our co-workers, regional partners, and communities.
What keeps us moving forward is not just the work itself; it’s the people who believe in it. Donors like you make it possible for us to honor the incredible work by communities in this region to achieve justice and equity, tell their vital stories, and nurture new generations of artists, organizers, and changemakers.
As we look toward 2026, I invite you to help us continue this momentum. Your gift—whether $25, $100, or more—directly sustains our filmmakers, radio broadcasters, youth programs, and cultural events. Every dollar is an investment in keeping Appalachian stories alive and ensuring they are told by the people who know them best.
We are deeply grateful for your partnership. With your support, Appalshop can remain a beacon of creativity, justice, and truth-telling in Appalachia and beyond.
Thank you for believing in us, for believing in our region, and for believing in the power of story.
With gratitude and hope,
Tiffany Sturdivant
Appalshop Executive Director
PS: Some donors have found that the tax benefits will be greater if they wait until January to make their gift. Please make your gift by January 30th.
Appalshop Film on Knoxville Community Media
Appalshop is proud to share we have formed a partnership with Knoxville Community Media to share our films on their networks! Starting December 17th, watch Appalshop Films WEEKLY on Knoxville Community Media, Wednesdays at 7 PM! Each film will air for two consecutive weeks so you won’t miss out. Our debut screening is the 2002 documentary “A Place in the County”, directed by Dee Davis.
Be sure to tune in for the debut screening on Wednesday, December 17th—and for all the films to follow! Learn more about how to watch KCM at knoxcm.org
Watch KCM on:
Comcast 12 | Charter 193 | WOW! 6
KUB TV 1019 | Roku | Amazon Fire
