Deadline: 28 November 2022.
Indiana Heritage Fellowship Program 2023
The Indiana Heritage Fellowship Award recognizes a traditional artist who has made outstanding contributions to their artistic tradition and to their community. The award honors an individual’s long-term achievement within an art form that is rooted in community life here in Indiana.
What are Folk or Traditional Arts?
Our program is modeled after the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowships, and
we use the NEA definition of folk and traditional arts for this program:
“The folk and traditional arts, which include crafts, dance, music, oral traditions, visual arts, and others, are those that are learned as part of the cultural life of a community whose members share a common ethnic heritage, cultural mores, language, religion, occupation, or geographic region. These traditions are shaped by the aesthetics and values of a shared culture and are passed from generation to generation, most often within family and community through observation, conversation, and practice.”
Traditional Arts Indiana
TAI was established in 1998 as a partnership between Indiana University Bloomington (IU) and the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC). Traditional Arts Indiana and its programming are currently funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). TAI was based at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures from 2015 to 2020, and in summer 2020, TAI was relocated to IU’s historic Maxwell Hall.
TAI is dedicated to expanding public awareness of Indiana’s traditional practices and nurturing a sense of pride among Indiana’s traditional artists. TAI identifies, documents, and seeks to understand more fully the many ways in which cultural values are embedded and expressed in daily life. It calls attention to neglected aesthetic forms that firmly ground and deeply connect individuals to their communities–from the spoken text to the hand- made object to customary behavior. TAI’s overarching goal is to integrate and connect cultural practices to educational activities, cultural conservation, arts, and community development at the local, state, and national levels.
Adjudication Process
Nominations, work samples, and letters of support will be reviewed by a panel of traditional arts and community specialists. Competitive nominations will be able to address the role of the nominee in their community as well as in their craft. Nominees should demonstrate excellence in their artistic tradition through the supporting materials provided.
Eligible applicants must be residents of Indiana at the time of application.
Funding Support
This project is made possible through funds received from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) with administrative support from Indiana University Bloomington. This program is contingent upon continuation of funds from both the NEA and the IAC.
Accessibility
TAI intends this program to be available to all. Please let us know if there are any specific needs for translation or application assistance.
