Les Amitiés Musicales: Building Ties with the Besançon Music Community:

Musicians Daniel and Shelby Sender applied for a grant to support a multi-day arts residency at the local high school in Besançon, the Lycée Pasteur.  There they held a masterclasses with students and musicians and performed a concert featuring music by Besançon-born composers and African-American composer Florence Price. Charlottesville music lovers and Francophiles saw the performance when the Senders put on a pre-trip concert here in Charlottesville!

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Mapping & Art: Teaching the Geography of the Sister Cities to Children:

Alexandria Searls, on behalf of the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center, held a series of educational workshops with local children to teach them about all four of our Sister/Friendship Cities through creative map-making.  Her project integrates hands-on artwork into learning about the geography and cultures of our partner cities. Artist/dancer Somé Louis and artist/photographer Stacey Evans assisted Ms. Searls in designing and running the workshops, and the resulting curriculum is made available to Charlottesville and Albemarle public schools.     

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MisMatch Around the World (Poggio a Caiano):

Writer, filmmaker and artist/healer Darnell Walker made a collection of short videos featuring the adventures of the friendly character “MisMatch,” undertaking a learning trip to our Italian Sister City, Poggio a Caiano.  Available on YouTube and intended especially for kids, the videos document MisMatch’s experiences. Through his whimsical videocasts children here and there connect with people, places, and daily life in Poggio.  

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Sister Revolutions (Besançon):

Dr. Benjamin Bernard produced a history-oriented public media podcast highlighting the ways in which Besançon and Charlottesville were involved in their respective 18th-century revolutions.  Together with local audio producer Sage Tanguay, he collected and assembled content from both cities, so as to offer a multi-part audio production in English, parts of which are also accessible in French.  The project starts a community conversation leading to the upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026. The podcast will also connect to larger national initiatives participating in “America 2026,” the official anniversary celebration. Listen to Sister Revolutions here: https://www.virginiaaudio.com/sister-revolutions

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A Tale of Two Cities: Exploring Huehuetenango:

Elias Alonzo, on behalf of the Ixtatán Foundation, produced six 30-minute podcast episodes featuring residents of Charlottesville and Huehuetenango who are connected in various ways, be they economic, educational, governmental, artistic, etc.  A “Tale of Two Cities” was produced in collaboration with Lilian Cruz, founder and host of Guatecuenta, a successful podcast featuring content on Guatemala. Directed to Charlottesville and area residents, Alonzo’s program explores various features of Huehuetenango to deepen listeners’ knowledge and understanding of our Guatemalan Friendship City.  The podcast content aims also to encourage collaboration and exchanges between Huehuetenango and local organizations and businesses.