The National Association of Black Storytellers
Announces the Black Appalachian Storytellers
Fellowship in Partnership with
Mid Atlantic Arts and South Arts
Baltimore, MD – July 21, 2022 – Mid Atlantic Arts, in conjunction with South Arts, is thrilled to partner with the National Association of Black Storytellers (NABS) as they launch the Black Appalachian Storytellers Fellowship program.
The Black Appalachian Storytellers Fellowships are intended to honor, celebrate, and support Black storytellers residing in the Appalachian counties (as designated by the Appalachian Regional Commission) of Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The goals of the fellowship program are to preserve and advance the understanding of Black Appalachian storytelling that embodies the history, heritage, and culture of African Americans, and to build bridges through intergenerational opportunities.
NABS Black Appalachian Storytellers Fellowships will provide six (6) $4,000 awards (with limited restrictions) to support experienced practitioners and culture bearers with opportunities to examine, research, develop, perform, and/or document the Black Appalachian storytelling tradition. One fellowship will be awarded in each of the six eligible states. Applications for the fellowships are due August 20, 2022. More details and the application form can be found here.
Fellows will receive funds for travel to the “In the Tradition…” 40th Annual National Black Storytelling Festival and Conference, November 9-13, 2022, in Baltimore, MD. Fellows will also receive membership to the National Association of Black Storytellers from September 2022 – December 2023.
The mission of the National Association of Black Storytellers to promote and perpetuate the art of Black storytelling—an art form which embodies the history, heritage, and culture of African Americans. Black storytellers educate and entertain through the oral tradition, which depicts and documents the African American experience. A nationally organized body with individual, affiliate, and organizational memberships, NABS preserves and passes on the folklore, legends, myths, fables, and mores of Africans and their descendants and ancestors – “In the Tradition…”.
The NABS Black Appalachian Storytellers Fellowship is funded in part by Mid Atlantic Arts’ Central Appalachia Living Traditions (CALT) program and South Arts as part of the In These Mountains, Central Appalachian Folk Arts and Culture initiative. CALT is a multi-year program designed to promote the understanding, and recognition of folk arts and culture in Central Appalachia through a three-part program that invests in folk arts communities while seeding new folk and traditional arts experiences and honoring underrecognized practitioners of Central Appalachian traditions across the region.
About Mid Atlantic Arts
Mid Atlantic Arts nurtures and funds the creation and presentation of diverse artistic expression and connects people to meaningful arts experiences within our region and beyond. Created in 1979, Mid Atlantic Arts is a private non-profit organization that is closely allied with the region’s state arts councils and the National Endowment for the Arts. It combines funding from state and federal resources with private support from corporations, foundations, and individuals to address needs in the arts from a regional, national, and international perspective. To learn more about Mid Atlantic Arts, its programs and services, visit our website at www.midatlanticarts.org.
Contact:
Karen Newell
Director, External Affairs
Mid Atlantic Arts
karen@midatlanticarts.org
410.539.6656 x104