:: 2004 NEA National Heritage Fellows

Anjani Ambegaokar Kathak dancer Diamond Bar, CA	Charles "Chuck" T. Campbell Gospel steel guitarist Rochester, NY	Joe Derrane Irish-American button accordionist Randolph, MA
Jerry Douglas Dobro player Nashville, TN	Gerald "Subiyay" Miller Skokomish tradition bearer, carver, basket maker Shelton, WA	Chum Ngek Cambodian musician and teacher Gaithersburg, MD
Milan Opacich Tamburitza instrument maker Schererville, IN	Eliseo and Paula Rodriguez Straw appliqué artists Santa Fe, NM	Koko Taylor Blues musician Chicago, IL
Yuquin Wang and Zhengli Xu Chinese rod puppeteers Aloha, OR

In 1982 the National Endowment for the Arts established the NEA National Heritage Awards as a way of honoring American folk artists for their contributions to our national cultural mosaic. Modelled after the Japanese "National Living Treasures" concept, the idea began with Bess Lomax Hawes, then director of the Folk Arts Program.

Profile materials for 1982-2007 courtesy of Documentary Arts. Use of some photographs courtesy of the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives & Collections

NEA Heritage Fellows
1982-2012: 
BY YEAR | ALPHA

What's this?

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