Regional Councils
Buckingham Lining-Bar Gang
First organized for a project begun by the Piedmont Humanities Council, in consultation with the VFH Folklife Program, the Buckingham Lining-Bar Gang re-enacts the worksongs and skills the members used when they worked in railroad track-lining crews years ago.
The Virginia Foundation is committed to serving the entire state -- its small towns and rural areas as well as its established cultural centers. In the late 1980s we began a long-term effort to stimulate humanities programming in selected regions of the Commonwealth. We recognized that some areas of Virginia had been less active than others in our work, and we set out to create a network of regional organizations that would help to correct this imbalance.
To date, five Regional Councils have been established:
- The Piedmont Regional Council, serving the seven counties of the Piedmont (14th) Planning District;
- The Southwest Regional Council, serving the fifteen counties of extreme Southwest Virginia;
- The Chesapeake Regional Council, serving the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula;
- The Northern Virginia Regional Council which, unlike the others, serves a mostly urban constituency;
- The Eastern Shore Regional Council, serving Accomack and Northampton Counties.
The Regional Councils are volunteer groups of individuals representing the diversities of the areas they serve. They are assisted by VFH staff in their efforts to promote regional awareness of the humanities and to encourage local use of VFH resources. They also work, together with VFH, to identify and serve the special needs of their regions and to create programs that preserve, invigorate, and celebrate their regions' unique historical and cultural identities. In short, the Councils help VFH to create an agenda for its work in the areas being served, and VFH in turn provides the Councils with advice and support in the development of local programs. In working with the Councils to empower local initiatives and build on local resources, we work to support the priorities set by the Councils themselves.
Each of these Councils has developed a unique regional identity, working directly in partnership with VFH to strengthen the humanities and humanities institutions in its respective region. The contributions made by all five of the Regional Councils to our work in the state has increased dramatically understanding of the humanities and how they affect the lives of all Virginians.
The Regional Councils have been skillful initiators of local projects, strong promoters of the humanities in their respective regions, and enthusiastic partners in VFH's statewide programming efforts. The Councils are an essential part of the Virginia Foundation. They have helped us to achieve our goal of service to the entire state, producing some of our best humanities programs in the process.
For information on council structure, membership, and meeting dates, please contact us.
