The Appalachian Cranky: Letterpress Art
- Ashley Mae Woolridge
- Feb 5
- 2 min read
The Wayne C. Henderson School of Appalachian Arts is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from our historic venue; a fellow relic of Smyth County's rich history perched atop a hill in our backyard. When curious tourists and local passers-by pop into our gift shop inquiring about the arts scene in the quaint town of Marion, Virginia, they are immediately pointed to The Henderson, a 1908 schoolhouse that now serves as a hub for the arts in our community.
The Henderson hosts some of the region's most prolific creatives for workshops and expositions. Teachers are celebrated and seasoned in their crafts, and possess an overarching passion for sharing their love of the arts with their community. The school welcomes artists of all levels of skill and interest with the intent of preserving, sharing, and expanding the full wealth of Appalachian creative traditions.
Among these programs are guitar-building workshops hosted by Wayne C. Henderson, quilting workshops, watercolor and pottery classes, jam sessions, poetry workshops, and letterpress printing at The Burke Print Shop. Executive director of The Henderson and multi-talented creative Catherine Schrenker regularly displays her work at Lola's at The Lincoln, including bright floral watercolors, quirky cards, and bold letterpress prints.
What is a cranky?
A cranky is a storytelling machine– a gadget designed to guide the viewer through a cycle of images on a scroll, often accompanied by song or oration. The Appalachian cranky can be traced back to the days of isolated life in the holler both before and in the dawn of television. See the video below to learn more about the Cranky and Catherine Shrenker's Cranky Project.
The Devil's Nine Questions
The Devil's Nine Questions is a series of letterpress prints inspired by a ballad of the same name written and performed by Texas Gladden in the 1950s. Gladden was a beloved native of Saltville, Virginia whose contributions to the tapestry of Appalachian folk music cannot be understated. The song was cemented into history as a quintessential piece of Appalachian music and folklore by ethnomusicologist, Alan Lomax, who published this song among others by Texas Gladden in Ballad Legacy, a compilation of lullabies, stories, and folk songs. Lomax declared Texas Gladden “one of the best American ballad singers ever recorded.”
The origin of the set of riddles that inspired the ballad is difficult to track down, but remnants of The Devil's Nine Questions are believed to have traveled from across the Atlantic in England to the middle Appalachians.
The ballad is a question-and-answer song featuring nine riddles. The devil challenges a young woman ("the weaver's bonny") who has done something that means her soul belongs to him; if she can answer all nine of his questions, then her soul will belong to God once again, and she will be saved. If she can't answer, then she'll be damned.
You can find a wide array of prints from the Appalachian Cranky Project for sale at Lola's at The Lincoln.
The Appalachian Cranky project beautifully showcases the blend of tradition and creativity through letterpress art. It’s amazing to see how storytelling and craftsmanship come together in such unique ways. At Website Development California, we truly admire artistic projects that preserve culture while inspiring innovation.
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The Appalachian Cranky project really resonated with me — there’s something deeply inspiring about transforming storytelling into tangible art. The way these handmade letterpress “crankies” bring local culture and emotions to life reminds me how creativity can connect generations. At kyivworkshop, I often explore similar ideas: how craftsmanship and visual storytelling preserve history through hands-on artistic expression. This kind of traditional process mixed with modern design thinking makes art feel alive and personal. I truly appreciate projects like this that celebrate texture, movement, and human touch — they remind me why handmade work still matters so much in today’s digital world.
Reading about the Appalachian cranky and its deep storytelling roots really struck me. The way communities used simple hand-crafted art to pass down memories feels close to how music carries traditions across generations. That same sense of preserving culture is what inspires me when I think about studying at a New York music school. Learning jazz improvisation, ensemble playing, and theory at a place like New York Jazz Workshop gives me tools to tell my own story through sound, just as the cranky artists told theirs through visuals and text. Both are about keeping traditions alive while adding a modern voice.
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