Appalshop has been telling the stories of Appalachia since 1969. The organization is a multidisciplinary arts and education center producing original films, video, theater, music and spoken-word recordings, radio, photography, multimedia, and books in the heart of Appalachia. Appalshop is dedicated to the proposition that the world is immeasurably enriched when local cultures garner their resources—particularly using new technologies—to tell their own stories and listen to the unique stories of others.

A core philosophy of Appalshop’s programs hold that any moment of the cultural production process is valued for its cathartic/transformational potential, in contrast to a traditional model which allows for such moments at the end of the process, in the performance or exhibition of art. One such example of this method of cultural production in Appalshop’s vast array of programs is the Thousand Kites project. This project was initiated in 2006 in response to the current proliferation of prisons in the Appalachian regions. Encompassing Appalshop’s three major disciplines—theater, audio, and film/video—communities have been engaged to tell personal stories about the impact of this trend, which forces migrations of incarcerated populations (mostly inner-city minority offenders) to distant rural prisons, often bringing communities into unexpected racial and cultural conflicts.

Thousand Kites grew out of Appalshop’s weekly radio program, “Holler to the Hood”, which shares the voices of families of prisoners and prison employees. This radio program then prompted the production of the documentary film Up the Ridge that provides an in-depth look at the U. S. prison system and won the award for Best Documentary at the 2006 Athens International Film Festival (see trailer in our Resource Center). In partnership with prisoners, corrections officers and their families, prison activists, and prison family organizations, Thousand Kites set out to draw attention to the stories of those impacted by the prison system whose stories are not often recognized in mainstream cultural productions. From the resulting conversations, Appalshop has produced an array of work, including an audio composite of three readings mixed with spoken word narration that has been broadcast on 100 radio stations nationwide, and the play Thousand Kites that dramatizes the impact of the U.S. prison system and is used to facilitate an audience discussion following performances.