Naomi Gedo Diouf prepares daughter and apprentice Kine Marcella Diouf for Klakan, a Liberian rite of passage for girls.
Photo: Amy Kitchener
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Important Dates
Program Description
Who Is a master artist? Who is an apprentice? What
are folk and traditional arts?
Review Criteria
Ineligible Apprenticeships
Guidelines and Application
Informational Meetings
For More Information Contact
Important Dates
Application Postmark Deadline: August 1, 2008
Notification to Applicants: December 22, 2008
Apprenticeship Period: January 1, 2009 – December
31, 2009
(6
month minimum)
Program Description
The Alliance for California Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program
encourages the continuation of the state’s traditional arts and
cultures by contracting master artists to offer intensive, one-on-one
training to qualified apprentices. Each contract will support
a period of concentrated learning for individuals who have shown a
commitment to and a talent for a specific artistic tradition.
Contracts of $3,000 will be made with California-based master artists
to cover master artist’s fees, supplies and travel. The
apprenticeship will begin on or after January 1, 2009, and must be
completed by December 31, 2009. The apprenticeship must last
at least six months, but may last up to one year, depending on the
needs of the particular project.
If selected, the Alliance makes a contract with the master artist
to implement the work plan submitted in the application. The
apprenticeship may last between six months and one year. Alliance
staff works closely with the apprenticeship team to articulate work
plans, gauge progress, and offer assistance and support. Near
the half-way point of the project, Alliance staff documents the apprenticeship
through recording and photography. The resulting archival materials
become part of the Alliance’s permanent archival collections,
which may be used publicly for educational purposes. Each apprenticeship
team organizes some type of public offering (performance, exhibit,
etc.), in consultation with Alliance staff, in order to share the results
of their intensive learning cycle.
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Who is a master artist? Who is an apprentice? What are folk and traditional
arts?
A master artist is someone who is recognized as an exemplary practitioner
of a traditional art form by his or her community and peers. An
apprentice is someone who learns from a master artist. Prospective
apprentices should demonstrate investment and skill in the art form
they wish to continue learning. The master artist and apprentice
must apply together.
Folk and traditional arts are those art forms that are learned as
part of the cultural life of a group of people whose members share
a common ethnic heritage, language, religion, occupation, or region. These
expressions are deeply rooted in and reflective of a community’s
shared standards of beauty, values, or life experiences. Ultimately,
folk and traditional arts are passed on from one generation to the
next and express a collective wisdom, rather than a unique personal
aesthetic.
Some folk and traditional arts have been brought to California from
other countries or regions and have taken root here to become interwoven
with the state’s cultural landscape and identity, while others
have prospered on the more than 130 tribal reservations and rancherias
in this state. Cowboy poetry; Hmong reverse appliqué embroidery;
Mexican corridos and mariachi music; African American
quilts; Japanese
bonsai; Native American basketry, ceremonial regalia construction,
and ritual music/dance; South Indian Bharata Natyam dance;
Western saddlemaking; Chinese qin instrumental music; Portuguese fado singing;
Native Hawaiian kahiko hula chant and dance; Pilipino rondalla music
ensembles; and Somali Buraanbur oral poetry are but a few
of the hundreds of distinctive forms found in this culturally rich
and diverse state.
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Review Criteria
A panel of California’s folk and traditional arts experts will
review applications according to the following criteria:
- Traditionality of the art form
- Artistic quality of the master artist’s work
- Demonstrated commitment and skill of the apprentice
- Shared membership of the master artist and apprentice in a cultural
community (family, ethnicity, occupation, tribe, religion, etc.)
- Feasibility of the proposed work plan and timetable
- Urgency (for endangered art forms)
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Ineligible Apprenticeships
- Contemporary studio crafts or the reproduction of antiques
- Recreations of historic or village folk traditions that attempt
to reenact lifestyles from the distant past
- 2008 Apprenticeship Program participants.
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Guidelines and Application
To apply, download the guidelines and application below. Alternatively,
call (415) 346-3800 to have copy mailed to you.
We strongly suggest that you call to discuss your proposal before
applying.
Apprenticeship Program 2009 Guidelines
Apprenticeship Program 2009 Application Forms
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Informational Meetings
Throughout May, the Alliance will host nine
informational meetings around the state – Long Beach (May
4), Riverside (May 5), San Diego (May 12), Los Angeles (May 15),
Santa Cruz (May 19), Fresno (May 20), San Jose (May 21), Santa Rosa
(May 22), and Berkeley (May 28).
Please join Alliance staff for a meeting in your area to learn more
about the Alliance and its programs – the Apprenticeship Program,
the Living Cultures Grants Program, and the Traditional Arts Development
Program.
We are also available to offer individual assistance and are happy
to work with first-time applicants.
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For More Information Contact:
Sherwood Chen
Associate Director
(415) 346-3800
Email
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THE COLUMBIA FOUNDATION
