Maggie Holtzberg, Folklorist

Master artist Sandeep Das playing tabla with apprentice Veerane Pratap, 2020.

Mass Cultural Council’s governing Council recently approved our largest investment ever in Traditional Arts Apprenticeships  – $100,000 – to preserve and continue vital ethnic and cultural art forms in a range of media. Not only do these mentoring partnerships help sustain living traditions, they also support intergenerational learning.

It is with delight that we announce the funding of 13 new apprenticeships in the following traditions: Khmer ornaments and forms, wooden boat restoration, Wampanoag traditional art, Arabic calligraphy, North Indian tabla, narrative needlework embroidery, wooden ship steering wheel making, Ottoman/Turkish makam, the music of Epirus, Irish set and step dance, handmade western boot making, and bird taxidermy.

Congratulations to all the recipients. We wish them well in their learning endeavors.