Folk and Traditional Arts Community
Projects Grants to Support 16 Organizations
in 2022-2023 Inaugural Round
Baltimore – September 15, 2022 – Mid Atlantic Arts has announced $100,718 in grants through the inaugural 2022-2023 Folk and Traditional Arts Community Projects Grants program. Funds will support 16 projects in five states in the mid-Atlantic region.
Folk and Traditional Arts Community Projects Grants are designed to support the vitality of traditional arts and cultural communities in the mid-Atlantic region. Non-profit organizations in the mid-Atlantic region can apply for funding to engage folk and traditional artists, practitioners, or culture bearers in community-based projects with public components. Activities may include performances, public art collaborations, workshops, trainings, exhibitions, fieldwork, and artistic collaborations, among others.
Projects include a community-based, collaborative oral history project and podcast undertaken by the Philadelphia Folklore Project, that will advocate for, activate, and preserve the cultural traditions and history of Swarthmore’s Historically Black neighborhood—a once segregated area existing just north of the Mason-Dixon line where a Black community underwent imposed poverty next to a white institution of considerable wealth. And the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, will work with St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands public school students participating in West African drumming and song workshops led by NEA National Heritage Fellow and master Guinean drummer and dancer Sidiki Conde, in collaboration with a New York-based American folk singer Terre Roche. Students, teachers, and local master musicians will then perform at a public concert.
The full list of 2022-2023 grantees and projects includes:
Maryland
EducArte
Afro-Brazilian samba percussion ensemble community performances
Frostburg State University
National Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration: “Cuando México Canta” with Mariachi Herencia de México featuring Lupita Infante
Sandy Spring Museum
Bomba y Plena en el Museum
New Jersey
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey
Olas Caribeñas/Caribbean Waves Audio Documentary Reel
New Jersey Folk Festival
Cultures of Cultivation: Community Gardens and Comics Exhibit
Peters Valley Craft Center
Traditional Basketry & Beyond: An Exhibition with Artist Steven R. Carty at Peters Valley School of Craft
Redhawk Native American Arts Council
Iroquois Traditions
New York
Association for Cultural Equity
“Go to Sleepy Little Baby”: an exhibit presented by the Lomax Digital Archive
Center for Traditional Music and Dance
The Tahlila West African Drumming and Song Workshop Series
Japanese Folk Dance Institute of NY
The Festival of Japan cultural workshops and collaborative performance
Living Traditions/Jalopy Theatre
The Eighth Annual Brooklyn International Music Festival
Pennsylvania
Kulu Mele African Dance & Drum Ensemble
Kulu Mele performance, workshop, and community conversation at the Baltimore Rhythm Festival
Philadelphia Folklore Project
The Historically Black Neighborhood of Swarthmore: Producing a Podcast on its History
Rivers of Steel
Public workshop trainings for folk and traditional artists through mentorships from master teaching artists and hands-on experiences
Virginia
Shenandoah University
Ranky Tanky: Engaging with Gullah Culture
Venture Richmond
The Virginia Folklife Area at the Richmond Folk Festival
A panel of three experienced folk and traditional artists/practitioners and/or folk and traditional arts professionals met on July 14, 2022 to review submissions and make recommendations.
For more program information, please click here. Guidelines for the 2023-2024 Folk and Traditional Arts Community Projects Grants will be posted in early spring 2023.
The Folk and Traditional Arts Community Projects Grants program is made possible through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts‘ Regional Touring Program.
Image: Shenandoah University in Virginia will work with Ranky Tanky (pictured) on a project entitled “Engaging with Gullah Culture” with support from the Community Projects Grants program. Credit: Peter Frank Edwards.
About Mid Atlantic Arts
Mid Atlantic Arts supports artists, presenters, and organizations through unique programming, grant support, partnerships, and information sharing. Created in 1979, Mid Atlantic Arts is aligned with the region’s state arts councils and the National Endowment for the Arts. We combine state and federal funding with private support from corporations, foundations, and individuals to nurture diverse artistic expression while connecting people to meaningful arts experiences within our region and beyond. To learn more about Mid Atlantic Arts visit www.midatlanticarts.org.
Contact:
Karen Newell
Director, External Affairs
Mid Atlantic Arts
karen@midatlanticarts.org
410.539.6656 x104