Art Menius
“A true giant of American folk music” – Dar Williams
“Then came along a guy named Art Menius to pick it up. Without him we wouldn’t have a bluegrass museum and Hall of Fame” – Carlton Haney
For information about Art Menius’ fundraising, consulting, long range planning, marketing, and interim director services for nonprofit organizations, please click here.
Articles and Interviews about and with Art Menius
Village Pride Award interview with Ron Stutts on WCHL-FM 97.9 September 30, 2014
“Art Menius Making Bluegrass Grow” by Jack Bernhardt (Bluegrass Unlimited Nov 1987)
Art Menius profile by Susan Simone in Carolina Alumni Review 2008 Nov-Dec
August 27, 2014 Q&A with News and Observer can be found here.
Art Menius has enjoyed a distinguished career in American roots music and non-profits, as writer, music festival and concert presenter, non-profit and trade association executive, and radio host. Originally a public sector historian, he entered music with the Fire on the Mountain show hosted by David Holt on The Nashville Network in 1983, the same year he began publishing articles in magazines and newspapers mostly about roots music. Many have been collected on www.artmenius.com. From 1985 through 1990, he served as first Executive Director of IBMA, the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). After a year as Folk Alliance International’s (FAI) initial President, he worked as its Manager from 1991 through 1996. Menius worked full time for MerleFest from 1997 through 2007, the last three years as a Wilkes Community College staff member. He then served as Director of the famed Appalshop in Whitesburg, KY (where he began his broadcasting career on WMMT-FM), and The ArtsCenter in Carrboro, NC.
Since late 2014 he has developed Art Menius Radio into one of the leading firms promoting recordings to folk and bluegrass radio and print, as well as limited artist management, and promotional and mailing services. consulting in fundraising, planning, and marketing, hosting radio shows on WCOM and WHUP, and still writing. His side efforts have included serving as part-time Executive Director of the SouthEast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA), grant writing, non-profit training, and hosting an arts talk show on commercial station WCHL and music shows on LPs WHUP and WCOM. His wife Becky Johnson also hosts music shows on the latter two.
Community service since 2014 includes the Orange County United Transportation Board, the Orange County Historical Commission, and the boards of Public Gallery of Carrboro dba WCOM LP, and Chapel Hill Rotary Club, and as president of the Carrboro Business Alliance. He is a member of the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame and received the Distinguished Achievement and Print Media Personality of the Year Awards from IBMA.
For more about Art Menius, go to
A Guide to the Online World of Art Menius
Email art@artmenius.com
Personal Website www.artmenius.com
Twitter @artmenius
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/art.menius
Tumblr http://artmenius.tumblr.com/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/artmenius
Academic papers at https://independent.academia.edu/ArtMenius
Google+ google.com/+ArtMenius & google.com/+Artmeniusservices
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/artmenius/
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/artmenius/
23 “magazines” on Flipboard: https://flipboard.com/profile/Artmenius
Index to the Art Menius papers in the Southern Folklife Collection at UNC-CH http://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/m/Menius,Art.html
Radical Localism
Email art@radicallocalism.com
Website www.radicallocalism.com
Twitter @radicallocalist
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/radicallocalism
Tumblr http://radicallocalist.tumblr.com/
Flipboard https://flipboard.com/@artmenius/radical-localism-j8kfgipry
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/artmenius/radical-localism/
The Revolution Starts Now Radio Show On WCOM-LP 103.5 Tuesdays at 4 PM Eastern
Station Website www.wcomfm.org
For my radio show playlists, please visit https://lazyfarmboy.blogspot.com/
To listen to my two most recent editions of “The Revolution Starts Now,” please visit https://spinitron.com/WCOM/show/91229/The-Revolution-Starts-Now
More About Art Menius
On April 10, 2012 Art Menius returned home to central North Carolina as Executive Director of The ArtsCenter in Carrboro, NC, the cultural centerpiece of one of the most vibrant and progressive communities in America. Due to health and stress issues following my mother’s death and more than two years of sustained 60+ hour weeks, he retired from full-time work as Executive Director of The ArtsCenter effective August 31, 2014. Menius plans a very active next few years consulting, writing, and helping others achieve their dreams in the arts and non-profit worlds. Durham Herald-Sun August 5, 2014: http://bit.ly/1uftsTe Raleigh News & Observer August 10, 2014: http://bit.ly/1plteH3 Menius’ resignation letter: http://artmenius.com/2014/08/03/announcing-the-new-phase-of-my-life-and-career/ You can read an August 2010 interview with Art Menius here. Art Menius received both the B.A. (with honors) and M.A. in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Art is married to bluegrass DJ and photographer Becky Johnson, author of Inside Bluegrass. Following three and one-half years as an Interpretations Specialist for research at the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Menius entered the music field as a writer and production assistant for the Nashville Network bluegrass and old-time music series, “Fire on the Mountain.” In September 1983 he began publishing reviews and features about roots music for publications ranging from Bluegrass Unlimited to the [Raleigh] News & Observer. Other adventures along the way have included editing and desktop publishing books for the Forest History Society, promoting a live performance bluegrass radio series on 117 commercial stations, emceeing and stage managing at dozens of music festivals in USA and Canada, and serving as a consultant on the acclaimed film, “High Lonesome.” During 1985 Menius helped create the International Bluegrass Music Association. Late that year he became the new trade association’s first executive director. Menius returned to IBMA’s Board of Directors for two terms running from 1998 through 2004. He served on the board of directors of the Old-Time Music Group, publishers of the Old-Time Herald, from 1991 thorough 1998, including six years as president. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Folk Alliance International. In 1990 the North American Folk Music & Dance Alliance elected Menius the President of its first board of directors. In April 1991 he became its first manager, serving in that capacity until June 1996. Following a period as an artistic representative, Menius became Associate Festival Coordinator for MerleFest, the enormous outdoor folk festival presented by Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, NC. Following a decade there, Menius served as Director of Appalshop, the acclaimed Appalachian media and arts center in Whitesburg, Kentucky from July 2007 until March 2010. On November 2, 2011, Menius completed his work as Director of Development for Common Ground on the Hill.
Becky Johnson
Becky Johnson has worked with Art Menius on music mailings since 1986. A visual artist and retired landscaper, since has hosted bluegrass and trad country radio shows on WMMT and currently on WCOM and WHUP.
Art Menius Radio 