It's hard to believe the Tug Valley Arts Council has been around for 37 years. The new season for 2010 – 2011, is about to start, and again, its is filled with quality and diverse entertainment for the people of the Tug Valley.

Since 1973, TVAC has been serving the coalfields of Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. The aims and objectives of the TVAC are: Promoting, encouraging, and arousing interest and support in the arts by presenting a performing artist series that is enjoyable and displays a wide variety of music, dance, and theater live performances. To take programs into schools. To encourage artistic talent on the local level, and to bring an awareness to everyone of the rich heritage, culture, and freedom of expression that we are privileged to have.

Every year the TVAC presents six to eight top notch performances reflecting a diverse variety of art forms and cultural traditions from the fields of dance, music and theater. This year promises to meet that goal with as much fervor as ever. This season there are eight presentations scheduled.

First up is Simple Gifts Duo, Thursday, September 2. Drawing on an impressive variety of ethnic folk styles, this award-winning Duo of two women, plus twelve instruments, plays everything from lively Irish jigs to down-home American reels.

Next is Jay Smar on September 28. Armed with 2 guitars, baritone vocals, claw-hammer banjo, and fiddling, singing, and flat-footin ' (a form of clog-dancing), he serves his audience an "acoustic buffet" of traditional American and original folk, ol' time mountain music, bluegrass and gospel tunes, as well as coal mining songs.

On October 14, We welcome back to the Tug Valley, Shelly Oliver, and David Leonart for some “Hot Taps and Cool Jazz”. These two spirited artists come together in an evening of dance and music, rhythm and melody, percussion and harmony for intense and creative moments of dynamic interplay and improvisations.

We are going to try something new this season. TVAC is sponsoring a video contest. On November 4, the video entries will be screened at the TVAC Video Festival. The contest is open the following categories:Those age 5 through 12; those age 13 through 18; and those 19 and above. Rules and entry forms can be found on our new website, www.tugvalleyarts.org, or you can telephone Cecil Varney at (606) 237 9800. The theme will be “Veteran's Day” and will be limited to three minutes.

The first half of our season will conclude with Dan Kamin, on November 18. Dan performs worldwide for theaters, colleges and symphony orchestras. On film, he created the physical comedy sequences for Chaplin and Benny and Joon, and trained Robert Downey, Jr. and Johnny Depp for their acclaimed starring performances. He is a funny man.

After our winter break, we will have three more outstanding presentations, which we will publicize at that time.

These program and others are presented with the financial assistance of Arts and Humanities grants from the West Virginia Department of Culture and History, The National Endowment for the Arts, and Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program. Further, partial funding is from a grant from the Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, funded by the Heinz Endowment, the William Penn Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Pew Charitable Trusts all administered by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.

But most of all, these programs are supported by local businesses, professionals, and individuals, through their purchase of sponsorships and season memberships. Sponsors for this season are: The First National Bank of Williamson; Williamson Memorial Hospital; Diane Shafer, MD; Janet Lawson, Massey Energy, Cotiga Development Company, Norfolk Souther Railway; Appalachian Regional Healthcare; Varney Law Office; Bank of Mingo; Sara Shafer; Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College; Mark H. Mitchell, Attorney, and the Mountaineer Hotel; Mad4MU, We Are Coal People; Community Trust Bank and Kapourales Properties, LLC.

Season memberships are available now from members of the Arts Council board of directors, or by calling Cecil Varney, at (606) 237-9800 or Paul Pinson at (304) 235-3000. To get things started off, there will be a reception, with refreshments for all past members of potential new members of the Arts Council, on Friday, August 27, in the lobby of the First National Bank of Williamson. From 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. come in and have some cake, punch, chips, and such, and find out about this new season of the Tug Valley Arts Council.