News

TN Folklife Launches Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program

By Bradley Hanson, Director of Folklife –

FolklifeApprenticeProgram-whiteFiscal Year 2017 marks the inauguration of the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship ProgramThe new initiative is designed to encourage the survival, continued development and proliferation of our state’s diverse folklife traditions, especially those that are rare or endangered. Funding will be awarded to eligible teams of master artists and apprentices committed to preserving, through one-on-one training, a traditional art form deeply rooted in their community and cultural heritage. Application deadline is September 7, 2016.

To be eligible, each team must include:

master artist: a tradition bearer who is recognized by fellow artists and community members as being exceptionally skilled and committed to sharing and perpetuating a traditional art form based in his or her cultural heritage. Master artists who apply must demonstrate expertise and excellence, teaching ability, and deep cultural knowledge of the art form.

An apprentice: selected by and applies with the master artist,* should be a talented, committed student who desires to sharpen his or her skills in a community-based traditional art. The apprentice should not be a beginner artist. He or she should demonstrate enough experience in the traditional art to benefit from the one-on-one training. Apprentices should also express an intention to train others in the art form in the future. Apprentices and master artists may be family members.

The master and apprentice teams must demonstrate a commitment to training in a community-based folk or traditional artSuch practices include traditional music, visual art, crafts, dance, foodways, calendar and life-cycle customs, and occupational skills. Traditional art forms are those learned and passed down informally by imitation, word of mouth, or observation in cultural communities that share family, ethnic, tribal, regional, occupational, or religious identity.

Ineligible art forms and activities include historical recreations and copies of antiques, the work of professional teachers or contemporary studio craft artists, and revivals of traditions outside of the originating cultural community.

Applicants must be citizens or legal residents of the United States. The master artist is preferred to be from Tennessee. The apprentice must be a resident of the state.

*If you are an eligible master artist interested in the program but unable to locate an appropriate apprentice with whom to apply, please consult folklife staff for assistance.

Contact either myself, Bradley Hanson, Director of Folklife at bradley.a.hanson@tn.gov or 615-532-9795; or Dana Everts-Boehm, Folklife Program Assistant at dana.everts-boehm@tn.gov or 615-532-0169 before applying to discuss your eligibility, art form, work plan, and work samples. If contacted at least one week before the due date (September 7, 2016), staff will assist you in the application process and review drafts.