WiseJams

02/18/2025

Applications are now open for the Spring 2025 semester of the WiseJAMS after-school music program. WiseJAMS provides traditional mountain music instruction and cultural enrichment opportunities for students in 3rd grade and up. WiseJAMS strives to encourage the preservation of the artistic heritage of the region by providing experience with traditional Appalachian music and culture.

The semester will start Wednesday, February 26th at L.F. Addington and Thursday, February 27th at the Southwest Virginia Museum. Classes take place from 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. Students can choose to learn guitar, fiddle, or banjo. Program cost is $15 per lesson.

To register a student for the WiseJAMS program, please submit the registration form at proartva.org/wisejams by February 26th. Rolling admission will be accepted as space allows. The program also provides instruments for semester-long loan at no cost. To request an instrument, please submit the instrument loan agreement at the same link.

01/30/2025

Registration is now open for the Spring 2025 semester of WiseJAMS at the Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park! The registration deadline is February 14. For information about how to register or to ask questions about this program, please call the park at 276-523-1322 or email [email protected].

09/12/2024

Applications are open for the Fall 2024 semester of the WiseJAMS after-school music program! WiseJAMS-Wise Begins Wednesday, Sept. 18th and WiseJAMS-Big Stone Gap Begins Thursday, Sept. 19th.

WiseJAMS provides traditional mountain music instruction and cultural enrichment opportunities for students in 3rd grade and up. WiseJAMS strives to encourage the preservation of the artistic heritage of the region by providing experience with traditional Appalachian music and culture. Students can choose to learn guitar, fiddle, or banjo.

To register a student for the WiseJAMS program, please submit the registration form at proartva.org/wisejams by September 16th. Rolling admission will be accepted as space allows through September 30th. The program also provides instruments for semester-long loan at no cost.

07/19/2023

The Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park hosts a special Friday "Lunch on the Lawn" this Friday, July 21, at noon, featuring students from the WiseJAMS Music Program and the Hillbilly Hippies.

This special Friday “Lunch on the Lawn” event is free and open to the public. Participants may bring their own lunch, or preorder one from the park for $10 each. This week’s featured menu is hamburgers on the grill, chips, marinated vegetable salad, cream cheese pound cake and choice of beverage. Orders must be made in advance by noon Thursday, July 20.

For more information, or to order a lunch, call the Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park at 276-523-1322.

The Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park hosts a special Friday "Lunch on the Lawn" Friday, July 21, at noon, featuring students from the WiseJAMS Music Program and the Hillbilly Hippies.

06/06/2023

Congratulations, Niko! We're so proud of you!

Niko Bright who won first place at this past weekend’s Gathering in the Gap Youth Banjo Competition. He just finished a year in the Big Stone JAM program. He’s pictured with Ranger Trevor White and Ranger Retha Cole. Congratulations Niko!

08/29/2022

We're so excited to be back in person for WiseJAMS this year! Please visit https://www.proartva.org/wisejams for more information and to register. 🎸🎻🪕

03/01/2022

WiseJAMS will be held virtually for the Spring 2022 semester. We are offering 9 virtual lessons via Zoom on Tuesdays from 4:30pm—5:30pm beginning March 8th, 2022 and ending on May 3rd, 2022. On Tuesday, May 10th, 2022 we will hold an outdoor in-person Graduation Ceremony & Concert from 5:30pm-7:00pm at the SWVA Museum in Big Stone Gap. Lessons will combine students from the Big Stone Gap/Appalachia and Wise/Pound programs. Program cost is $25 for the semester, and scholarships are available for those in need.

The semester calendar, registration form, and instrument loan agreement form are available at proartva.org/wisejams. Please register your child by March 4th, 2022! If your child needs to borrow an instrument, please submit the instrument loan agreement as soon as possible.

If your child does NOT want to participate in virtual JAMS, but still has an instrument checked out from a previous semester, please email [email protected] or call 276-376-4520 to make arrangements to return the instrument.

09/28/2021

WiseJAMS will be offered virtually for the Fall 2021 semester. The program will offer 10 Zoom lessons on Tuesdays from 4:30pm - 5:30pm beginning October 12, 2021 and ending on December 14, 2021. Lessons will combine students from the Big Stone Gap/Appalachia and Wise/Pound programs, and are also open to area home school students.

To register a student, please fill and submit the registration form at proartva.org/wisejams by October 8th, 2021. If your student needs to borrow an instrument, please fill and submit the instrument loan agreement on the same page by October 6th, 2021. Program cost is $25 for the semester, and scholarships are available for those in need. The Pro-Art Association is the non-profit fiscal agent for the program, and tuition payments can be made through the Pro-Art website at: proartva.org/wisejams or by mailing checks made payable to WiseJAMS to Pro-Art, P.O. Box 179, Wise, VA 24293.

Please email [email protected] or call 276-376-4520 if you have any questions! 🎻🪕🎸

05/26/2021

Congratulations to the WiseJAMS Class of Spring 2021! We are so proud of how well these students transitioned to virtual lessons—they put in the time and effort and were able to learn and grow so much. A big thank you to each of our instructors, Joey O'Quinn, Evan O'Quinn, Madison Denhardt, and Claire Childress, for all their hard work this semester! Thank you to Retha Cole and the Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park for a beautiful venue this evening. Another JAMS semester in the books! 🎓🥳💐🎻