Folk & Traditional Arts: FY 2006 Grants

Some details of the projects listed below are subject to change, contingent upon prior Endowment approval.

Access to Artistic Excellence | Access to Artistic Excellence II
Folk & Traditional Arts Infrastructure | Panelists

Access to Artistic Excellence

(March 14, 2005 deadline)

African Caribbean Dance Theatre, Inc.
Tallahassee, FL
$15,000
To support the 9th Annual Florida African Dance Festival. The festival consists of a conference which will feature African immigrant artists in dance and drum workshops and culminate in a concert.

Berkeley Society for the Preservation of Traditional Music, Inc.
Berkeley, CA
$10,000
To support Hidden Treasures: Roots Music of Berkeley's Diverse Ethnic Communities. The project will consist of a series of concerts designed to reflect the broad range of Berkeley's ethic and cultural community.

Bowery Arts and Science (Consortium)
New York, NY
$35,000
To support Harpsong: A Program of Celtic Poetry and Music at the People's Poetry Gathering, a biennial event to galvanize public attention around issues of preserving cultural forms and languages. A collaboration with Badenya, Inc., the project will present poets and musicians from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and Brittany, along with Celtic artists in the United States.

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Durant, OK
$20,000
To support the Labor Day Cultural Project, a component of the annual Choctaw Labor Day Festival featuring dancing, a pow wow, and a Living Indian Village.The festival draws people from all backgrounds to experience a wide array of Choctaw history, culture, arts, and activities.

CityCelebrations, Inc.
Richmond, VA
$35,000
To support the National Folk Festival. The project will support research, planning, presentation, and curation of the festival's material culture program and school residency activities.

Comanche Nation of Oklahoma
Lawton, OK
$30,000
To support fieldwork and programming. Activities will include technical assistance, establishment of a folk arts program, and an exhibit of Native traditional arts and artists discovered through fieldwork.

Community Economic Development Center of SE Massachusetts
New Bedford, MA
$35,000
To support the 2006 Working Waterfront Festival. The event will be a celebration of the occupational culture of the commercial fishing industry with activities including demonstrations and contests of occupational skills, children's activities, oral history stations, and cultural musical performances.

Elk County Council On The Arts
Ridgway, PA
$10,000
To support the 7th Annual Ridgway Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous. The Rendezvous is a gathering of U.S. and international carvers who meet to share their knowledge and demonstrate the technique of chainsaw carving for the general public.

Fort Collins Museum Foundation
Fort Collins, CO
$15,000
To support the Crossroads at the Council Tree Native American Music Festival. The project will consist of music performances and educational programming for elementary and high school students.

Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum
Sitka, AK
$20,000
To support demonstrations and interpretation of Alaskan Native art. The project is designed to showcase the work of Native Tlingit, Haida, Tsimpsian, Aleut, Alutiq, Athabaskan, Yup'ik, and Inupiag artists found in the museum's collections and exhibits.

Gamelan Sekar Jaya
El Cerrito, CA
$15,000
To support the creation of a new dance-drama titled Kali Yuga. The project will involve a collaboration between Indonesian and American artists to produce a work commemorating the bombing of a nightclub in Kuta, Bali, in 2002.

Hmong Cultural Center Inc.
St. Paul, MN
$10,000
To support video clips of Hmong traditional music and orally recited songs to be featured on the LearnaboutHmong.com Web site. The recordings will capture artists performing a series of funeral ceremonies using the qeej (a ceremonial flute), orally recited marriage songs, and two string violin songs.

Indian Music Society of Minnesota (Consortium)
Minneapolis, MN
$5,000
To support a consortium project for the Masters of Percussion concert. In partnership with the Pangea World Theater, the concert will be preceded by a percussion workshop and lecture-demonstration led by North Indian master tabla drummer and 1999 NEA National Heritage Fellow Zakir Hussain.

International Accordion Festival
San Antonio, TX
$40,000
To support the 6th Annual International Accordion Festival. The festival is designed to celebrate the instrument's local identity and global reach; preserve and present accordion music traditions of ethnic, regional, and national cultures; and educate audiences about free-reed instruments central to the music.

Jubilee Community Arts, Inc.
Knoxville, TN
$15,000
To support live presentations, broadcasts, and documentation of traditional music. The project will include a series of weekly concerts, performances at the Jubilee Festival, programs focusing on the traditional music of the southern Appalachian region, and research and documentation of traditional artsts in east Tennessee.

KanKouran West African Dance Company
Washington, DC
$20,000
To support a new dance production, The Legend of Sunjata. Legend will tell the story of Mali King Sunjata and his defeat of King Sumonguru in 1235.

Kulintang Arts (aka Kularts) (Consortium)
San Francisco, CA
$20,000
A consortium project to support the Parol Lantern Festival Project. A partnership with the Filipino American Development Foundation, the project will consist of a residency by master artist Robert David, creation of several giant parol lanterns, and a community stroll lantern parade.

La Frontera Mariachi Conference, Inc.
Tucson, AZ
$10,000
To spport the Tucson International Mariachi Conference. The conference will consist of workshops in mariachi music and baile follorico dance, music and dance concerts, and a festival with performances, traditional foods, and traditional arts and crafts.

Maimouna Keita School of African Dance Inc.
Brooklyn, NY
$15,000
To support the 14th Annual Dance Conference and Concert. The conference will consist of a series of workshops in traditional African dance, drum, and accessory making, culminating in a concert.

Media Working Group, Inc.
Lexington, KY
$20,000
To support post-production and editing costs for a documentary film titled The Hayloft Gang: The Story of the National Barn Dance. The film is based on a pioneering country music radio program that became a national phenomenon in the 1930s and 1940s.

Moanalua Gardens Foundation, Inc.
Honolulu, HI
$10,000
To support the 29th Annual Prince Lot Hula Festival. The oldest and largest non-competitive hula event in Hawaii, the festival features exhibits and demonstrations of traditional crafts, an art exhibit by native Hawaiian artists and artisans, and performances of ancient and modern hula.

National Council for the Traditional Arts
Silver Spring, MD
$45,000
To support a series of urban and rural festivals, a Masters of Caribbean Music tour on the West Coast, and a series of outdoor concerts in an underserved region of Appalachia. The project honors folk, tribal, and ethnic communities across the nation by developing audiences and providing national exposure for folk artists.

North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance, Inc. (aka Folk Alliance) (Consortium)
Memphis, TN
$25,000
A consortium project to support the 2006 Annual International Conference. In collaboration with the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Austin conference will introduce and showcase a wide variety of Texas folk musicians to the Folk Alliance membership, which consists of performing arts presenters, festival bookers, marketing and public relations specialists, and record label representatives.

Northwest Native American Basketweavers Association
Omak, WA
$20,000
To support the 2005 Annual Gathering of Basketweavers. The gathering offers an opportunity for indigenous weavers to showcase and sell their basketry, share techniques with one another and the public, and teach Native youth about the cultural significance of basketweaving.

ODUNDE, Inc.
Philadelphia, PA
$20,000
To support the 2006 ODUNDE Festival. The festival is the oldest African American community festival in Philadelphia, annually featuring local and international African American dancers, musicians, and performers.

Philadelphia Folklore Project (Consortium)
Philadelphia, PA
$40,000
A consortuim project to support Art Happens Here. A collaboration with Asian Americans United, the project will document and present Philadelphia folk artists, in arts such as Cambodian dance, klezmer music, and Khmer dressmaking, through residencies and public performances to audiences in community sites throughout the region.

Philippine Dance Company of San Antonio, Inc.
San Antonio, TX
$5,000
To support performances at the Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio and the Texas State Fair in Dallas. Performances will represent the rural, mountain provinces, and Spanish and Muslim influences in the Filipino culture.

Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance, Inc.
Austin, TX
$10,000
To support a series of music and dance workshops. Activities will include beginner and master-level workshops on plena dance and music, the history and tradition of pregones (street cries), and other Puerto Rican artistic and cultural traditions.

Qi Shu Fang Peking Opera Association, Inc.
Woodhaven, NY
$25,000
To support the 6th Annual Peking Opera Festival. The festival will be designed to attract recent immigrants and college students in performances at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Theatre at St. Clements in New York City; the Community Theatre in Morristown, New Jersey; the Lyman Center in Connecticut; and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.

Radio Bilingue, Inc.
Fresno, CA
$40,000
To support !Viva el Mariachi! Festival. The festival will showcase local, national, and international mariachi groups while also providing workshops with master musicians and "open mic" performance opportunities for youth and community members.

Redhawk Indian Arts Council (aka Redhawk Native American Arts Council)
Brooklyn, NY
$10,000
To support the Heritage Celebrations and Student Day components of the Redhawk Native American Heritage Festival. The project will consist of lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on activities related to a variety of art forms including wood carving, Oneida bow making and carving, and storytelling..

Sealaska Heritage Foundation (aka Naa Kahidi Theater)
Juneau, AK
$40,000
To suppport the Celebration 2006 Festival, a biannual event designed to teach and preserve the cultural heritage of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian Native people. Festival activities include a parade, performances, Native language workshops, traditional foods, and a Native artists market.

ShadowLight Productions
San Francisco, CA
$10,000
To support the production of a shadow puppet play titled Monkey at Spider Cave. The project is based on Journey to the West, the traditional story of how Buddhism was brought to China.

Stone Soup Fresno
Fresno, CA
$30,000
To support workshops and demonstrations in traditional Hmong silversmith, blacksmith and needle arts, and the qeej, a ceremonial flute. The project is designed to create a living institute that encourages cross-cultural intergenerational understanding and appreciation for traditional Hmong arts in Fresno.

Traditional Arts in Upstate New York, Inc.
Canton, NY
$20,000
To support a series of radio documentaries based on the Register of Very Special Places (RSVP) project. The project will introduce radio audiences to local cultural landmarks in the northern Adirondacks, Lake Champlain Valley, and St. Lawrence Valley, and will invite community participation to identify and document additional sites.

Westchester Arts Council, Inc. (Consortium)
White Plains, NY
$15,000
A consortium project to support a regional folk arts performance and education program. In collaboration with Northern Westchester Center for the Arts, the project is designed to bring traditional, ethnic, and community-based artists to several regions of Westchester County in order to expand audiences for local traditional performing artists and to provide learning opportunities in educational settings.

Western Folklife Center
Elko, NV
$40,000
To support Making West Home: Stories from the Deep West, a series of storytelling and foodways residency programs in venues across the rural western United States. Each three-day residency includes one educational workshop for high school students, a day-long workshop about community stories and foodways, and a community-wide evening potluck and storytelling session.

Wisdom of the Elders, Incorporated
Portland, OR
$20,000
To support the First Annual Northwest Indian Storytelling Festival. The event will spotlight storytellers from Oregon and Washington tribes; feature the music, dance, crafts, and foods of Pacific Northwest Indian tribes; and include a Storytellers Apprenticeship Conference.

Access to Artistic Excellence II

(August 15, 2005 deadline)

Alabama Folklife Association, Inc.
Birmingham, AL
$20,000
To support the 2006 Alabama Community Scholars Institute. Participants will be introduced to the skills of conducting field surveys, interviews, and photographic and videeographic documentation.

Alaska Native Heritage Center, Inc.
Anchorage, AK
$20,000
To support the Winter Weekend series of cultural education and performance programs. The programs are offered each Saturday of the winter season and will celebrate Alaska Native arts, dance, languages, and storytelling.

Alianza Dominicana, Inc.
New York, NY
$10,000
To support the Dominican Folk Instrument and Dance Apprenticeship Project. The apprenticeship activities will be enhanced by adding a carnival mask-making component.

Alliance for California Traditional Arts
Fresno, CA
$25,000
To support a consortium project for the Cultural Mapping Initiative. A partnership with World Arts West, the project will identify strategies to strengthen support for traditional dance production in communities of immigrant and culturally-specific dance artists in the Bay Area.

Alliance for California Traditional Arts (Consortium)
Fresno, CA
$25,000
To support the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship program. The project fosters the continuance of significant traditional arts within cultural communities, while providing public visibility for those artists and art forms.

Anila Sinha Foundation for Promotion of Arts and Culture of India (aka Anila Sinha Foundation) (Consortium)
Elk Grove Vlg, IL
$10,000
To support a consortium project for the touring of a new work of the music and dance of Rajasthan, India. A partnership with International House at the University of Chicago, the project will include lecture-demonstrations and concerts and will feature master musicians, the Rajasthani Ensemble.

Arlington County Cultural Affairs Division
Arlington, VA
$20,000
To support expansion of Hereabouts, a folk arts education program. Activities will include training both traditional artists and K-12 teachers in presenting traditional arts in classrooms.

Arts Center of Cannon County
Woodbury, TN
$20,000
To support a CD and exhibition showcasing the ethnographic studies of musicologist Dr. John Wesley Work, III. Work documented the changing rural culture of the Mississippi Delta before World War II and produced significant recordings of African American music from the era.

Asian Improv aRts (on behalf of Gen Taiko)
San Francisco, CA
$7,500
To support the creation of a new work incorporting Odori (dance), Taiko (drums), and shinobue (Japanese flute). The project will explore the concepts of loyalty, honor, truth, and purpose and will culminate with an 11th Anniversary Concert.

Association of Performing Arts of India Inc. (aka APAI)
Pembroke Pines, FL
$5,000
To support performances by Indian bansuri (bamboo flute) player, Hariprasad Chaurasia. According to ancient scriptures, the bansuri is one of the three original forms - vanni (vocal), venue (string) and venu (flute) - of rendering Indian classical music and was the instrument for Lord Krishna.

Bayshore Discovery Project, Inc. (Consortium)
Port Norris, NJ
$15,000
To support a consortium project for public workshops, presentations and exhibits on traditional Lenape arts in collaboration with the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Cultural Center.

Black Storytellers of San Diego (aka BSSD)
Chula Vista, CA
$10,000
To support the youth component of the 24th Annual National Association of Black Storytellers Conference and Festival. Elementary and middle school students will receive instruction in the art of storytelling and creation, including performances at a community presentation.

Bowery Arts and Science, Ltd. (on behalf of Urban Word) (Consortium)
New York, NY
$20,000
To support a documentary film titled DeAf Jam and an accompanying DVD. The film will trace the journey of a group of deaf teenagers as they discover and explore American Sign Language poetry.

Brooklyn Arts Council, Inc. (aka BAC)
Brooklyn, NY
$20,000
To support Folk Feet IV: Celebrating Traditional Dance in Brooklyn. The festival will include concerts and workshops and will feature artists from Brooklyn's traditional dance communities.

California Indian Basketweavers Association (aka CIBA)
Nevada City, CA
$20,000
To support an annual basketweavers gathering. The event will provide opportunities for weavers to educate the public, exhibit and sell their work, and discuss issues relevant to their traditions.

California Indian Storytelling Association (aka CISA)
Fremont, CA
$10,000
To support Storytelling Festivals 2006/07 Inside the Roundhouse. The project includes a series of events featuring indigenous storytellers from California and Hawaii.

Cambodian-American Heritage, Inc.
Fort Washington, MD
$10,000
To support instruction in Cambodian music and Cambodian classical and folk dances. The project will culminate with a concert in observance of the Cambodian New Year.

Center for Southern Folklore
Memphis, TN
$10,000
To support preservation of the Multimedia Archives. Core activities will include indexing the Center's library of recordings, interviews, and performances, and transferring to digital format all of the 16-mm film footage, audio discs, and photographs contained in the Reverend L.O. Taylor Collection.

Center for Traditional Music and Dance, Inc. (aka CTMD)
New York, NY
$25,000
To support continuation of the Community Cultural Initiatives (CCI) in Peruvian and Chinese communities. The project is designed to nurture and preserve community-based artistic documentation and the presentation of projects in immigrant and ethnic neighborhoods throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Center for Traditional Music and Dance, Inc. (aka CTMD) (Consortium)
New York, NY
$20,000
To support a consortium project for the New York World Festival 2007. A partnership with World Music Institute, Inc., the festival will celebrate the musical traditions of communities surrounding the Mediterranean and their New York counterparts and will feature international artists and local community-based ensembles as part of Central Park's Summer Stage series.

City Lore, Inc. (Consortium)
New York, NY
$20,000
To support BreakOut, a consortium project. In partnership with The Point, the project is a celebration of grassroots breakdance and freestyle rap traditions to take place at Lincoln Center Out of Doors.

City Lore, Inc. (on behalf of National Network for Folk Arts in Education)
New York, NY
$30,000
To support a national inititive to foster the inclusion of folk arts as a basic element of K-12 arts education. The effort will integrate folk arts and artists into school curricula by connecting educators and students to folklorists, folk artists, and folk arts materials and training.

City Lore, Inc. (on behalf of Trova, Inc.) (Consortium)
New York, NY
$10,000
To support the eighth International Troubadour Celebration. Trovadores, improvisatory singer-poets, will perform Puerto Rico's traditional jibaro music.

City of Somerville (aka Somerville Arts Council) (on behalf of Somerville Arts Council)
Somerville, MA
$10,000
To support fieldwork within Portuguese and Brazilian communities. Fieldwork will result in a booklet titled Traditional Arts of Somerville's Brazilian and Portuguese Communities and will provide context for a culminating festival.

Cultural Resources Council of Syracuse & Onondaga County, Inc. (aka Cultural Resources Council) (Consortium)
Syracuse, NY
$20,000
To support Heartland Passage, a consortium project. A collaboration with the New York Folklore Society, the project will consist of field research documenting the living cultural heritage of communities along the Erie Canal, culminating in a series of presentations at the Canal Days Festivals.

Cultural Resources, Inc.
Rockport, ME
$10,000
To support a Creative Community Workbook. The training manual will focus on fieldwork, asset-based planning, community organizing, cultural tourism, and ethnographic marketing.

Curators of the University of Missouri at Columbia (Consortium)
Columbia, MO
$25,000
To support the Missouri Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, a consortium project. In collabortion with the Missouri Arts Council, the project will bring together masters and apprentices who are committed to conserving their artistic traditions and cultural heritage.

Davis & Elkins College
Elkins, WV
$25,000
To support the Traditional Arts Program. Activities will include the West Virginia Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program, concerts, and the Old-Time Fiddler's Reunion.

Delta State University
Cleveland, MS
$20,000
To support the first phase of a statewide Blues Trail. A partnership with the Mississippi Blues Commission, the project will honor and preserve the indigenous art form of the blues and the musicians that created and continue it.

Devils Tower Natural History Association (aka DTNHA)
Devils Tower, WY
$10,000
To support expansion of the Cultural Program Series to include a Native American Heritage weekend. Activities include presentations, performances, and ongoing demonstrations by Native craftsmen, musicians, dancers, and historians.

Documentary Arts, Inc.
Dallas, TX
$30,000
To support the Masters of Traditional Arts DVD, video kiosks, and wall environments. The project will increase public access to more than 350 NEA National Heritage Fellows who have mastered culturally diverse artistic styles and represent a vast scope of ethnic, tribal, religious, and regional traditions.

Elk County Council On The Arts (Consortium)
Ridgway, PA
$10,000
To support the consortium project Enchanted Woodlins. With the Pennsylvania Lumber Heritage Region, the project will support the creation and installation of chainsaw carved sculptures at sites throughout the state.

Folkstreams, Inc.
Delaplane, VA
$30,000
To support expansion of the Folkstreams.net Web site. The site will include additinal films and videos about American traditional arts and culture with supporting materials about the artistic, social, and cultural importance of the work.

Fort Wayne Dance Collective, Inc. (on behalf of Three Rivers Jenbe Ensemble)
Fort Wayne, IN
$10,000
To support workshops in traditional West African drumming, dancing, and singing, culminating in a performance. The project will provide young people ages nine to 17 access to the cultural and rhythmic history of West Africa.

Fund for Folk Culture
Santa Fe, NM
$10,000
To support a conference of folk arts professionals and practitioners. The conference will assess the state of the fields in which folklorists most commonly work: museums, state and regional arts agencies, nonprofit/multidisciplinary cultural organizations, universities, and libraries.

Historical Association of Southern Florida, Inc. (aka HMSF)
Miami, FL
$20,000
To support the third phase of the Haitian Community Arts Project. The project will consist of an exhibition of traditional Haitian artists and events, educational programs, and booklets on Haitian traditional arts.

Hostos Community College Advisory Council, Inc. (aka Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture)
Bronx, NY
$15,000
To support BomPlenazo 2006, a multifaceted fetival. The project consists of concerts, workshops, panels, lecture-demonstrations, and a photography exhibit exploring and presenting Puerto Rico's African-rooted bomba and plena traditions as they are practiced today.

Institute for Community Research, Inc. (aka ICR)
Hartford, CT
$20,000
To support the Southern New England Apprenticeship Program. The project brings together master artists and apprentices from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

Institute for Cultural Partnerships
Harrisburg, PA
$20,000
To support workshops focused on the integration of refugee and immigrant artists into regional and national arts programming. Participants will be provided with useable tools to develop new, or to enhance ongoing, programs.

International Bluegrass Music Museum, Inc. (aka IBMM)
Owensboro, KY
$10,000
To support a Video Oral History Project. The project documents the lives, stories, and musical performances of artists designated as Bluegrass Music's First Generation.

Kalihi-Palama Culture & Arts Society, Inc.
Honolulu, HI
$10,000
To support training for neighborhood youth in traditional and contemporary art. Classes include Hawaiian, Okinawan, and Filipino dance; Hawaiian music; and ceramics.

Kalispel Tribe of Indians
Usk, WA
$10,000
To support the inclusion of traditional Plateau Indian art in the curriculum of K-12 Native American students in the Pacific Northwest. Activities will include beading, basketweaving, singing, and drumming.

Khmer Arts Academy
Long Beach, CA
$10,000
To support the Classical Dance Training & Performance Program. The program will continue the tradition of master/apprentice training and will strengthen the presentation and performance of Cambodian dance in the community and beyond.

La Troupe Makandal, Inc. (Consortium)
Brooklyn, NY
$10,000
To support Krik! Krak!, a consortium project. A collaboration with the Tonel Lakay Dance Theatre, the project will consist of instruction in traditional Haitian music and dance.

Long Island Traditions, Inc.
Port Washington, NY
$15,000
To support artist gatherings, concert performances, and lecture/demonstration workshops by traditional Indian artists. The program will examine the music, dance, and narrative traditions within the growing East Asian Indian/Pakistani populations of Queens, Long Island, and Westchester counties.

Lore of the Land, Inc.
Silver City, NM
$20,000
To support the Indigenous Aural Folklorist Project. The project will establish sound archives, ensure community access, and facilitate the community's self-determination about how its traditions and intellectual property rights should be conserved and transmitted.

Los Pleneros de la 21, Inc. (aka Los Pleneros)
New York, NY
$15,000
To support the Puerto Rican Music Project. Project activities will include concerts, performances, lectures, workshops, classes for youth and adults, and residencies.

Los Reyes de Albuquerque Foundation
Albuquerque, NM
$17,500
To support and perpetuate Nuevomexicano folk traditions and to present performances of the Entriega de los Novios. Nuevomexicano presentations will be held at senior and nursing centers, adult day-care centers, and meal sites for the homeless; while the Entriega de los Novios will be presented at middle and high schools.

Lowell Festival Foundation
Lowell, MA
$25,000
To support fieldwork in new and underserved ethnic communities in New England. Fieldwork will lead to the creation of a culturally diverse database of artists and artisans from which to draw for presentation at the annual Lowell Folk Festival.

Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance (aka MIBA)
Old Town, ME
$25,000
To support a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. The project will support basketmakers and apprentices in the ancient traditions of ash and sweetgrass basketry among the Maliseet, Passamaquoddy,and Penobscot tribes in Maine.

Mexic-Arte (aka Mexic-Arte Museum)
Austin, TX
$10,000
To support an artist residency and master workshops. Led by master artist David Linares. the residency and workshops will result in the creation of a major work for the 2006 Day of the Dead outdoor exhibit, celebration, and procession.

Michigan State University (Consortium)
East Lansing, MI
$30,000
To support a consortium project for a Web-based database of North American Indian and Native Hawaiian artists. In partnership with the Northwest Native American Basketweavers Association, the project will be based on activities at the Carriers of Culture: Living Native Basket Traditions program at the 2006 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Music Preservation Society, Inc.
Florence, AL
$10,000
To support the second phase of the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area Study. The study will identify, inventory, archive, and conserve traditional music, storytelling, and folk traditions in the six-county region of Northwest Alabama known as Muscle Shoals.

Natya Dance Theatre
Chicago, IL
$10,000
To support creation of a new work titled Yatra: The Journey. The project will draw on the purest movement of bharatanatyam (classical Indian dance) as well as poetry traditions in several Indian languages.

New York Folklore Society, Inc.
Schenectady, NY
$10,000
To support expansion of the Mentoring and Professional Development Program. The project will include a community partner initiative and an artist roundtable.

North Carolina Folklife Institute
Durham, NC
$20,000
To support the African American Heritage Music Project. The project will document artists, events, sites, and venues associated with African American music traditions.

North Carolina Folklife Institute (Consortium)
Durham, NC
$20,000
To support a consortium project for the Community Folklife Documentation Institute. A collaboration with the North Carolina Arts Council, the project will consist of topical seminars, technical workshops, field documentation experiences, and project consultations.

Northwest Folklife
Seattle, WA
$25,000
To support the Borderlands survey project. The project will consist of a survey to identify and document traditional artists and culture bearers in communities on both sides of the boundary between Washington State and British Columbia.

Northwest Jersey Folklife Project, Inc. (aka NWJFP)
Phillipsburg, NJ
$10,000
To support the Delaware River Cultural Study. The project will identify and articulate the relationship between natural and cultural resources of the river and how this information may be used to strengthen the communities along the river.

Philadelphia Folklore Project
Philadelphia, PA
$20,000
To support the Folk Arts House program. The project will support technical assistance workshops for traditional artists, grassroots groups, and artist-run programs and will feature local artists presenting their work in small settings.

Ragamala Music and Dance Theater
Minneapolis, MN
$10,000
To support bharatanatyam Indian classical dance workshops and master classes. Workshops will be led by bharatanatyam dancer/choreographer Alarmel Valli and will culminate with a public performance by Valli in conunction with the United States premiere screening of the documentary film Pravata -- The Dance of Alarmel Valli.

Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (Consortium)
Providence, RI
$15,000
To support a consortium project for occupational apprenticeships. A partnership with Woonasquatucket Valley Community Build (aka The Steel Yard), the project will offer apprenticeships in furniture making, blacksmithing, wax bronze casting, stone carving, and slate roofing.

Society of Kunqu Arts, Inc.
Silver Spring, MD
$10,000
To support a series of lecture-demonstrations, workshops, and performances. The project will present and preserve the performing art of Kunqu, the oldest form of Chinese opera.

Spanish Speaking Unity Council of Alameda County, Inc. (aka Unity Council)
Oakland, CA
$10,000
To support workshops in altar making and the Mexican traditions surrounding the art form. Local master artist Ruben Guzman will teach the techniques of cartoneria (Mexican paper sculpture), culminating in an exhibition of the works at the 11th Annual Day of the Dead Festival.

Special School District #1 (aka Minneapolis Public Schools)
Minneapolis, MN
$10,000
To support continuation of the Bluegrass Review radio program. The show will contain interviews and commentary discussing bluegrass music in cultural, historical, and aesthetic contexts.

Sprinkle Art, Inc. (aka Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration)
Colorado Springs, CO
$15,000
To support the Mariachi Connections Program. Workshops for young people and adults will be taught by mariachi professionals on the history, musical techniques, theory, and cultural relationship of mariachi music.

Texas Folklife Resources (Consortium)
Austin, TX
$25,000
To support a consortium project for the Community Residency Program. A partnership with the Texas Commission on the Arts, the project will support residencies in underserved populations of fewer than 10,000.

Traditional Arts in Upstate New York, Inc. (aka TAUNY) (Consortium)
Canton, NY
$20,000
To support a consortium project for a cultural resources survey of maritime, manufacturing, agricultural, military, and ethnic communities of Jefferson County. A partnership with the Antique Boat Museum, the project will result in an annotated inventory for future use in planning and presenting tradtional arts programming.

Vermont Folklife Center
Middlebury, VT
$15,000
To support field research to identify and document the music and dance traditions of African, Bosnian, Tibetan, Laotian, and Vietnamese communities. Artists identified through this research will be presetnted at the annual Champlain Valley Folk Festival.

Ward Foundation, Inc. (aka Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art)
Salisbury, MD
$20,000
To support instruction in the skills of decoy carving. Resulting work will be judged at the Chesapeake Wildfowl Expo, the Ward Museum's fall waterfowling event.

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (aka WSPRC)
Olympia, WA
$20,000
To support the Folk and Traditional Arts in the Parks Program. The project will include a series of multi-cultural events in the state parks.

West Plains Council on the Arts, Inc.
West Plains, MO
$10,000
To support fieldwork in the Ozark region. Activities will include technical assistance, setting up archival space with public access, Web site enhancement, and programs related to cultural tourism.

World Music Institute, Inc. (aka WMI)
New York, NY
$20,000
To support the Festival of Indian Music and Dance. The festival will feature classical musicians of North and South Indian traditions, folk music and dance of Bengal and the Punjab, and representatives of the classical Indian dance traditions of bharatanatyam, Kathak, Orissi, and Kuchi pudi.

Yoricks Productions (aka Yorick's Marionette Theater)
Saunderstown, RI
$10,000
To support the Young at Heart Tour. Activities will take place at senior centers and will include marionette performances, lecture-demonstrations, and puppet making workshops.

Folk & Traditional Arts Infrastructure

Alliance for California Traditional Arts
Fresno, CA
$30,000
To support the sixth year of the Traditional Arts Development Program. The program will include a mentoring and professional development program and partial support of the executive director and administrative assistant positions.

Arkansas State University
State University, AR
$30,000
To support the Arkansas Folklife Program. Activities include field research in the Mississippi Delta region of the northern Ozarks and the integration of folk artists into ongoing programming at the Arkansas Arts Council and Arkansas State University.

Colorado Council on the Arts
Denver, CO
$30,000
To support the regional folk arts program. Core activities will include full restoration of the southern Colorado folklorist position, establishment of a statewide folk arts network of cultural ambassadors, and representation in the state's Heritage Tourism Plan.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
Harrisburg, PA
$25,000
To support continuation of the Folk Arts Support Centers. The project will expand fieldwork in additional underserved regions of the state and develop statewide strategies that preserve and enhance the folk and traditional arts.

District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Washington, DC
$20,000
To support the citywide Folk Arts Program. The program will consist of a series of roundtables, continuation of the Dance DC Festival, professional development for folk artists, Arts-in-Education and Artist Roster Programs, and partial support of a folklorist position to administer the programs.

Division of the Arts, Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, & Tourism
Baton Rouge, LA
$25,000
To support a folklorist position and related costs. Core activities include the New Populations project designed to document the folk arts traditions of Louisiana's immigrant and refugee populations.

Florida Division of Historical Resources
Tallahassee, FL
$30,000
To support the 23rd year of folk activities throughout the state. The project will include the Folklife Apprenticeship Program, Folklife In-Reach Educational Program, and partial support of the outreach coordinator position.

Indiana University
Bloomington, IN
$10,000
To support the Indiana Traditional Arts of Small Business Project. Activities will include the development and creation of an online multimedia tour, artistic programming, and traveling exhibits.

Institute for Community Research, Inc.
Hartford, CT
$10,000
To support the Cultural Heritage Arts Program. The program will consist of the development of a Web site and brochure designed to reach a wider audience, providing information about traditional artists and communities across the state.

Kentucky Arts Council
Frankfort, KY
$25,000
To support a community scholar coordinator position and related costs. Students will learn the craft of the folklorist--identifying and documenting traditions, collecting oral histories, and presenting local tradition-bearers in a variety of venues.

Maine Arts Commission
Augusta, ME
$20,000
To support the Community Folklorist-in-Residence, the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship, and the pilot Sustaining Community Traditions. The programs are designed to bring recognition to local artistic traditions and to honor and support the artists who continue to practice these traditions.

Maryland State Arts Council
Baltimore, MD
$25,000
To support the sixth year of Maryland Traditions. Activities will include support of folklorist positions at Frostburg State University and the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art at Salisbury University.

Massachusetts Cultural Council
Boston, MA
$20,000
To support continuation of the Folk Arts and Heritage Program. Core activities include artists grants and traditional arts apprenticeships, Web site development, and an exhibition and catalog titled Keepers of Traditions: Folk Arts in Massachusetts.

Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
$25,000
To support the Michigan Arts Apprenticeship and Michigan Heritage Award programs and related costs. The project will support master-apprentice pairs, partial support of a program coordinator for administration and evaluation, and an exhibit about both programs.

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Inc.
Baltimore, MD
$20,000
To suppport the Mid Atlantic Outreach Program. The program is designed to strengthen the region's folk and traditional arts infrastructure through a series of residencies that includes the traveling of folklorists and traditional artists from their home locations to mid-Atlantic hosts sites or jurisdictions.

Mississippi Arts Commission
Jackson, MS
$20,000
To support fieldworker positions and related costs. Folklorists living in different regions of the state, or in nearby border states, will document and recruit traditional artists for the agency's apprenticeship, fellowship, and Artist Roster programs.

Missouri State Council on the Arts
St. Louis, MO
$20,000
To support phase two of the Folk Arts School Residency Pilot Project. Activities will include the development and printing of an educational guide for use in school residencies.

Nebraska Arts Council
Omaha, NE
$25,000
To support activities of the Nebraska Folklife Network. Activities will include educational kits on Irish American and Iraqi culture, folklife education for teachers, and museum trunk exhibits on farm and ranch traditions.

New Mexico Arts
Santa Fe, NM
$25,000
To support continuation of the Apprenticeship Program and Community Fieldworker Network. Practitioners for the apprenticeship program are sought in the course of fieldwork with the assistance of trained lay folklorists participating in the Community Fieldworker Network program.

New York Folklore Society, Inc.
Schenectady, NY
$20,000
To support the outreach coordinator position and related costs. Activities will include professional forums, artists' roundtables, and a community scholar field school.

North Carolina Arts Council
Raleigh, NC
$25,000
To support an executive director of the North Carolina Folklife Institute and related costs. Core responsibilities of the position will include development of heritage tourism projects in central and mountain communities; completion of a Web site; and production of a CD.

North Dakota Council on the Arts
Bismarck, ND
$30,000
To support a statewide Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program and related costs. The program is designed to honor and encourage the preservation of North Dakota's diverse living traditions, especially those that are rare and endangered.

Oregon Historical Society
Portland, OR
$30,000
To support the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program and related costs. The project is designed to increase the program's visibility within Native American communities especially through apprenticeships and school-based programs.

Rhode Island State Council on the Arts
Providence, RI
$10,000
To support the Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program and related costs. The program will foster the sharing of traditional skills within cultural communities.

South Carolina Arts Commission
Columbia, SC
$20,000
To support continuation of the Institute for Community Scholars, the Folklife and Education Initiative, and the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Initiative. The continuation of the programs will create long-lasting partnerships at the local and state level and provide models for folklife documentation efforts.

South Dakota Arts Council
Pierre, SD
$20,000
To support administration of the South Dakota Traditional Arts Program. Responsibilities will include the apprenticeship program, fieldwork in conjunction with a woodwork exhibition, and programming.

Southern Arts Federation, Inc. (aka SAF)
Atlanta, GA
$20,000
To support an exhibition titled Rhythm & Roots, Southern Music Traditions. The exhibition will appear as part of Southern Arts Federation's Southern Visions touring exhibition program and will feature indigenous immigrant music traditions.

University of Wisconsin at Madison
Madison, WI
$20,000
To support a public folklorist/archivist position and related costs. Activities will include surveying, cataloging, and conserving documentary materials and products within the upper Midwest.

Vermont Folklife Center
Middlebury, VT
$20,000
To support the continuation of a statewide Traditional Arts Apprenticeship program. The apprenticeship program encourages the preservation of living traditional arts by funding master artists to work with less experienced apprentices in order to pass along time-honored skills and knowledge.

Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy
Charlottesville, VA
$25,000
To support continuation of the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program and related costs. The program pairs an experienced master artist with an apprentice in order to help ensure that art forms are passed on in ways sensitive to history and tradition.

Washington State Arts Commission
Olympia, WA
$30,000
To support a folk arts coordinator position and related costs. Responsibilities will include the development of programs that connect many of the state's 120 parks with local communities through concerts, festivals, exhibits, and demonstrations.

Wisconsin Arts Board
Madison, WI
$25,000
To support the Wisconsin Teachers of Local Culture coordinator position and related costs. Responsibilities will include the implementation of a pilot professional development program for folk artists who want to expand their capacity for working in K-12 schools.

Wyoming Arts Council (aka State of Wyoming)
Cheyenne, WY
$25,000
To support the folk arts specialist position and related costs. Responsibilities include fieldwork and programming. The position will also enhance the curriculum in Wyoming schools and foster appreciation for community and cultural traditions through demonstrations and residencies.

National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506