A-B Tech’s Voices & Visions
Intergenerational Oral History Project with Carolina Village Wins LeadingEdge NC’s 2026 Excellence in Innovation Award.
A-B Tech’s Voices & Visions intergenerational oral history project with Carolina Village retirement community has received LeadingAge North Carolina’s 2026 Excellence in Innovation Award. Comprised of public speaking, art, and filmmaking by A-B Tech students featuring seniors from Carolina Village, Voices & Visions is a new project of A-B Tech’s School of Fine Arts and Communication.
A-B Tech students interviewed residents from Carolina Village and then produced presentations, video, and art projects based on the residents’ lives. They participated in a number of panel discussions, culminating with a final event on May 1, 2026 at A-B Tech. The event included the unveiling of a documentary film highlighting the project, and a quilt made by Carolina Village residents using quilting squares designed by art students. The quilt will be on display at the Asheville Museum of Art and A-B Tech’s Locke Library before moving to its permanent location at Carolina Village.
LeadingAge NC presented A-B Tech and Carolina Village with the Excellence in Innovation Award on May 7, 2026 during its conference at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville. LeadingAge North Carolina is an association for retirement communities across the state, including continuing care communities, affordable housing providers, and business members.
Voices & Visions Roots
As a child, A-B Tech Fine Arts and Communications Chair Rebekah Handy spent summers with her grandmother, a librarian who instilled in her a deep respect for stories. Handy recalls evenings spent around the kitchen table listening as her grandmother and mother shared family histories, teaching her that stories are powerful and worthy of being preserved. That early understanding became the foundation for Voices & Visions.
The formal seed for Voices & Visions was planted in early 2025 when Handy first voiced her dream of starting an intergenerational storytelling project to art instructor Ani Volkan. Volkan connected Handy with her sister Aleen Dailey, Carolina Village’s Wellness Coordinator, who shared Handy’s dream of connecting seniors with local students to create an oral history project. By September 2025, that shared dream became reality with the launch of Voices & Visions.
Nearly 20 Carolina Village residents participated in Voices & Visions, sharing their stories with 60 students of public speaking, art, and videography. Over the course of the fall semester, public speaking students interviewed the residents and created oral presentations about their lives. Videography students created short films that highlighted meaningful objects in the residents’ homes, while art students used residents’ stories to create patterns for quilt square designs. The students’ final presentations were shared with residents and their families in November.
This spring, Voices & Visions continues its next phase as a team of Carolina Village residents works to create quilt squares from the art students’ designs. The squares will be sewn into a quilt that will be exhibited on A-B Tech’s campus from May through July 2026, then at the Asheville Art Museum in August 2026 before returning to its final home at Carolina Village.
Handy said the project has had a positive effect on everyone involved. Residents have found joy in sharing their achievements and having their voices heard, while students have learned how to listen with empathy and perform well before a live audience. Handy said the project will carry into the future, and next year’s version will include new residents and students, as well as a new art project. Voices & Visions will also be added to digital archives at local libraries, including Pack Memorial Library, Henderson County Public Library, and A-B Tech’s Don C. Locke Library.
“This project bridges generations in a way that reminds us of shared humanity,” Handy said. When the students sat down, they weren’t just practicing interviews for a speech project. We were teaching them how to preserve stories that might otherwise be lost. My hope is that this becomes a lasting tradition; a legacy that celebrates stories and connects people to strengthen community bonds.”
Handy said Communication instructors Martha Gates and Curtis Philon, Videography instructor Derek Rhodarmer, and Volkan, a Fine Arts instructor, have been integral to the project and their students’ involvement.
Learn more about the project and view photos at abtech.edu/voices-and-visions.
