NCAC: Folklife Apprenticeship Program Grant

NCAC: Folklife Apprenticeship Program Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: North Carolina Arts Council
Amount: US $3,000 - US $7,000
Last Updated: July 03, 2025

Summary

The NCAC: Folklife Apprenticeship Program offers 12-month apprenticeships in folk and traditional arts within North Carolina's Appalachian communities. Designed to preserve endangered folklife traditions, this program supports mentor-apprentice pairs, fostering the transmission of cultural practices. Eligible applicants must be 18 and reside within designated ARC counties. Funding includes $7,000 for mentors and $3,000 for apprentices, encouraging community engagement through public presentations of learned skills. This initiative strengthens cultural identity and heritage in the region.

Overview

Folklife Apprenticeship Program The North Carolina In These Mountains Appalachian Folklife Apprenticeship program supports 12-month apprenticeships in the folk and traditional arts of the many cultural communities within North Carolina’s Appalachian Regional Commission counties. The apprenticeship program application will focus on the traditional folk arts and culture of North Carolina’s Appalachian communities as part of the In These Mountains project sponsored by South Arts. About folklife and traditional arts Folklife is the expressive arts, practices, and lifeways that emerge from within a community. Folklife that is passed through generations grows into the traditional arts of that community. Traditional arts are often deeply rooted in a geographic location and its religious, ethnic and occupational groups, or they are carried with immigrant and migrant communities as they establish themselves in new homes. Folklife and Traditional Arts are typically taught through one-on-one interaction in a community setting. Folklife is an essential and enduring part of how communities form their identity, learn from their pasts, and decide their futures. Folklife is a living and dynamic experience expressed through art, music, dance, celebration, work, story, dress, sense of place, and belief. No community is without it, and we are all its carriers. What is a mentor artist and an apprentice? A mentor artist is a tradition bearer committed to the perpetuation of a traditional art form or practice of his or her cultural heritage. Mentor artists are recognized by fellow artists and their own community members as skilled and dedicated practitioners. Applying mentor artists should demonstrate expertise, teaching experience, long engagement with their art form or practice, and deep knowledge of their tradition. An apprentice is a dedicated student who has been chosen by a mentor artist for a sustained period of study in the mentor’s art form or practice. The apprentice should have some past experience with the mentor’s tradition before beginning an apprenticeship, so that the time together will help develop the apprentice on their own path to mastery. Apprentices and mentors may be family members, and apprentices may have studied under the mentor artist previously. The strongest pairings will share a common community or religious, ethnic, or occupational group. The strongest applicants for apprenticeships will also have the intention to continue the transmission of their art form by training others in the future. Teams of two or three apprentices are eligible to study with one mentor artist if such a learning style is preferable within the tradition. Funding Mentor: $7,000 Apprentice: $3,000 Alternative distributions of funding may be considered upon request. Multiple mentor artists or multiple apprentice artists are permitted. In such a situation, the grant award is shared among the recipients (for example, if there are two apprentices, each would receive $1,500). Applicants will describe who is responsible for any supply costs. Typically, the apprentice is expected to cover the cost of supplies.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. All applicants must be 18 years or older.The Appalachian Folklife Apprenticeship program is designed to encourage the continued transmission, practice, and development of the region’s many folklife traditions, especially those that face endangerment. Only apprenticeship pairs within Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) counties are eligible to apply. In North Carolina, these counties are: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Davie, Forsyth, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, McDowell, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Stokes, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin, and Yancey Counties.Mentors must represent a tradition known and practiced within their NC community. Please consult with NC Folklife Institute staff about eligibility of art forms and activities before applying. Master and apprentice must both reside in a North Carolina Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) county, and be able to provide proof of US and NC residency. Pairs must submit a work plan as part of their application that sets clear and achievable goals that can be completed within the 12-month grant period. Pairs should meet on a regularly scheduled basis. Most pairs meet weekly. Pairs must track their meetings and progress through either written evaluations, a photographic record, audio recordings, or video clips. NC Folklife Institute staff are available to discuss appropriate tracking methods. All pairs must share their accomplishments in a public presentation within their community at the end of the apprenticeship. Presentations may take the form of performances, exhibits, demonstrations, web and social media presentations, or other formats appropriate to the tradition. NC Folklife Institute staff can assist in preparations for such presentations.

Ineligibility

Ineligible art forms and activities include the work of contemporary studio craft artists and revivals by mentor artists from outside of the activity’s originating cultural community. While mentors must represent a tradition known and practiced within their North Carolina community, apprentices may come from different backgrounds or cultural communities.