North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA) has awarded $110,398 in the Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program for Fiscal Year 25, which begins July 1, 2024 and ends June 30, 2025.
The Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program grant is designed to honor and encourage the preservation of North Dakota's diverse living traditions. By providing funds up to $4,500, this grant allows master traditional artists to pass their skills and knowledge to apprentices on a one-to-one basis over an extended timeframe. The masters most often are from ND but can be from outside the state. The apprentices all must be ND residents so as to keep growing the traditions within the state.
Traditional and folk arts are shared expressions of identity rooted within a family, community, region, tribe, ethnic group, occupation, or religion over generations. Forms of traditional expression include craft, technical skill, music, dance, and ritual celebration which are usually passed from one individual to another informally, by word of mouth or by example.
The grant awards are to be used for a master artist's instruction fee and the cost of supplies, along with travel for the apprentice. The length of each apprenticeship will vary according to the proposed work plan but most apprenticeships last between four and ten months.
FY25 Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Recipients
For more information on NDCA’s Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, along with all other grant programs, please visit NDCA's Grants at a Glance page or call 701-328-7590.
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North Dakota Council on the Arts is the state agency responsible for the support and development of the arts throughout North Dakota and is funded by the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.