For Actress Maddie Casto, musical theatre wasn’t a career choice, it is simply who she is. Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, while most kids her age were watching cartoons, Maddie was singing along to Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musicals with her mother, who was a singer.

Last year, the combined efforts of the Appalachian State University faculty and the Appalachian Theatre brought Western North Carolina a taste of local heritage, culture and talent with their documentary film festival Boone Docs For 2023. The event’s lead organizer Beth Davison is expecting it to be just as big of a hit as last year.

In 2020 when the pandemic hit and people were learning to adjust to staying home, many turned to art for comfort. Meg Thompson, hailing from Charleston, SC, has always been an artist interested in many mediums, but she had a special interest in ceramics.

With a diverse 30-year background in fabric art, interior decorating, and upholstery art, Jenny is now a maker of upcycled chairs with a unique artistic flair. She collects furniture orphans, broken furniture frames that would otherwise be discarded and designs each chair as if she were making a beautiful dress.

North Carolina native Leaflin Lore Winecoff refers to herself as a purveyor of magic in the forms of paintings, yoga, healing, costumery and performance, poetic scribblings, and the way she dances through life.