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Annual Award to Traditional Artists and Culture Bearers in Arizona
April 10, 2024 - May 15, 2024
The Southwest Folklife Alliance (SFA), an affiliate non-profit organization of the University of Arizona College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the parent producing agent of the annual Tucson Meet Yourself Folklife Festival, launches its eighth year of its Master-Apprentice Award program to support Master traditional artists and apprentices. This year SFA will make 10 awards to pairs of Arizona-based traditional artists and culture bearers—$5,000 for the Master artist and $500 to the emerging artist—engaged in learning and transmission of traditional knowledge.
The pair should anticipate working together for one year. Artists are nominated by peers within their community, cultural institutions, apprentices, or by self-nomination. They are selected by a panel and awarded for their knowledge, dedication, and commitment to passing on living traditions from our region and beyond. Applicants include a wide variety of artists, including those working in traditions including, but not limited to: · Handcrafts: weavers, basket makers, jewelers, mask makers, ritual objects, textile artists · Occupational folklife: adobe makers, leather workers, ironworkers, foodways workers · Oral traditions: storytellers, poets ·
Performing arts: dancers, vocalists, musicians “Sometimes traditional artists are hesitant to nominate themselves,” says Denise Uyehara, SFA Programs Manager in artist services, “With that in mind, we always welcome nominations from community members who know someone ready for this award.” The Award is supported by individual donors and the Arizona Commission on the Arts through a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) State Partnership Agreement. For information on the nomination process, visit https://southwestfolklife.org/master-apprentice-artist-program/
The deadline to nominate artists is May 15, 2024. Orientation sessions will be held as requested by communities or individuals.
The Master-Apprentice Award Program is the first award program of its kind in Arizona. SFA joins over 30 Master-Apprentice award programs across the nation. The program affirms the organization’s commitment to individual heritage-based artists, economic development, and the transmission of cultural knowledge.
Download Guidelines Here.
Access the Nomination Form here.