A new festival comes to Morgantown.
When students step into Morgantown native Annick Odom’s class at Fairmont State University, they aren’t stepping into just any art class—they’re walking into a world shaped by unique art forms and collaborative experiences. Her students have worked together to unfold a story in the form of a crankie, combining aesthetics to make one mesmerizing scroll.
A crankie is a moving, panoramic story that’s brought to life by cranking to wind a scroll from one spool to another. Often paired with music, puppets, and other performance arts, crankies are a collaborative art form that brings artists together to combine their gifts.
The idea of using scrolls to share stories is not new—it dates back to 18th century Europe, when moving panoramas and Asian scrolls were prominent. For years, these devices were used for personal entertainment, storytelling, theater backdrops, and more. Then, in the 1960s, a man named Peter Schumann started his acclaimed Bread & Puppet Theater, coining the term “crankie” to reflect the scroll-cranking mechanism used in his shows. Today, Schumann is often credited with starting the crankie revival of the 1960s.
This summer, Odom is bringing Morgantown into its own crankie era. Her first experience with the art was in the Netherlands, when she saw an American duo perform a ballad using a crankie. The performance inspired Odom to start crafting and performing her own English-language crankies with a friend. “It was a cool way to get people to pay attention to the words of the song, especially if it wasn’t their native language, bringing this intimate, close-up focus to the words.” She later lived in Detroit, where she experienced an art festival that gave her the idea to start a crankie festival in West Virginia.
The first-ever Morgantown Crankie Festival takes place May 30–31. More than 20 musicians, visual artists, and storytellers from around the world will come together to share personal, historical, comedic, and serious stories. Featured artists include Katherine Fahey and Dan Van Allen from Maryland, Lindsay McCaw and Hannah Lewis from Michigan, Peter Stevenson from Wales, and Morgantown’s own Chris Haddox and Eddie “Spaghetti” Maier.
Performances take place Saturday, May 30, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 31, at 4 and 7 p.m., each showcasing new, exciting crankies. Guest crankie makers will host workshops starting Thursday evening. Art from creators will be available for purchase, and a small exhibit showcasing unperformed crankies will be open.
The festival is meant to entertain and inspire audiences of all ages. Tickets can be reserved online, and registration is highly encouraged.
Ultimately, the crankie isn’t just about performance—it’s about connection, both to the art and to one another. “One thing that’s really cool about crankies is that you disconnect from tech in a way, and they’re really human,” Odom explains. “They’re handmade, and they take a lot of time and effort, and they remind you that the process is such an important part of art making.”
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