Individual Artists

Traditional Arts Apprenticeships
Deadline: April 7, 2008

Grant Coordinator: Lynn Martin Graton
lynn.j.graton@dcr.nh.gov
(603) 271-8418

These FY09 Grant Guidelines are valid for grant period July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009

In order for traditional arts to continue to be visible and meaningful, they need to be passed on from one generation to the next. The NH State Council on the Arts supports the perpetuation of traditional arts by funding Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grants. This unique funding opportunity supports a master traditional artist to teach an experienced apprentice in one-on-one sessions. Apprenticeship grants recognize master traditional artists for their artistic excellence and commitment to preserving their heritage and support the efforts of promising apprentices who want to learn a tradition and share it with others.

What are traditional arts?
Traditional arts are artistic activities that are passed down from one generation to the next within families and communities and are regarded by the community as part of their heritage. These activities can include music, dance, storytelling, crafts, skills, celebrations, and architecture. Communities can be defined in many ways, such as groups that share the same ethnic heritage, language, geographic area, religion, occupation, or way of life.

For a traditional artist, being true to the past is usually more important than change or innovation. Therefore, the techniques and forms of traditional arts tend to change very slowly. Though each generation adds their special gift to the tradition, the sense of what is beautiful and well done is defined more by the community than by an individual artist's personal creative vision. Because of this, traditional arts often become symbols of identity and pride for a community.

Traditional arts encompass folk arts. These are local "grass roots" artistic activities that are usually taught informally. A fiddle player may learn by playing along with older musicians at local community dances, a quilter may learn by helping her mother, a woodcarver may learn by helping out a neighbor, and a storyteller usually draws upon real life experiences growing up in a particular region or neighborhood. Folklife embraces a much wider range of cultural activities including food traditions, occupational skills, ways of speaking, and celebrating.

The NH State Arts Council’s Traditional Arts Program seeks to be responsive to how communities define themselves and their traditions. Because of limited resources, we place emphasis on supporting tradition bearers that have a direct connection to the community or group from which a tradition emerged.

Here are just a few of the traditional art forms that can be found in New Hampshire:
New England social dance & music (including contra and square dancing); French-Canadian fiddling and song; Scottish Highland piping, drumming & dance; Irish ceili dancing; Jewish Klezmer music; African-American gospel music; African drumming and dance; Western Abenaki ash & sweet grass basket making; quilting; rug braiding; rug hooking; spinning; lace-making; dried wreath making; decorative painting; Scandinavian knitting; Chinese knot tying; Russian iconography; musical instrument making; furniture making; sign carving; fly tying; Polish paper cutting; wood carving; barrel making (cooperage); canoe building; boat building; dog sled making; snowshoe making; fish net making; bow and arrow making; harness making; stone wall building; timber framing; ox yoke making; and harness making.

For more information on traditional arts and folklife in New Hampshire, visit:
New Hampshire Folklife. This online educational resource includes an interactive Learning Center and a searchable database of traditional music recordings.

Maximum Grant Request
A master artist and apprentice team may apply for a combined total of up to $4,000 per year. Within that amount, the maximum request for the master artist is $3,000 and the maximum request for the apprentice is $1,000.

Important Note: All grant categories and amounts are subject to change, depending upon availability of state and federal funds for any fiscal year.

Eligible Project Expenses
Grant funds cover:

• Master artist fees for teaching, supplies, and travel costs essential to the Apprenticeship.
• Apprentice supplies and travel costs essential to the Apprenticeship.
  (Sorry, the grant does not cover apprentice fees.)

Who May Apply?
Individuals representing any cultural or ethnic tradition in New Hampshire may apply for a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant.

The master traditional artist should be:

• Recognized by his or her community as an established and mature practitioner of his or her traditional art form and able to demonstrate artistic excellence through supporting materials.
• Be committed to teaching the tradition to the proposed apprentice.

The apprentice should:

• Have some experience in the artistic tradition he or she wants to study.
• Be committed to sharing with others the knowledge learned during the Apprenticeship.
• Be at least 12 years old and have parental approval to apply if younger than 18.

Special Instructions:
Applicants must answer the application narrative questions in their own words, but if language or disabilities present barriers to understanding or filling out the form, the applicant may ask for assistance as needed. NH State Council on the Arts staff is always available to work one-to-one with applicants prior to application deadlines.

Border State Apprenticeships
The State Arts Council recognizes that some traditional art forms in Northern New England are regional, and that there are traditional artists living in New Hampshire who would like to work with traditional artists living in a neighboring state. Therefore, as long as one member of the master artist / apprentice team is a resident of the state of New Hampshire, the other member of the team may be a resident of Vermont, Maine, or Massachusetts.

If applying for a Border State Apprenticeship, we urge applicants to plan a schedule that maximizes teaching sessions. This will help keep the travel expenses in appropriate proportion to the amount requested to cover the master artist fees. If either a master artist or an apprentice plan overnight stays, the State Arts Council cannot cover the cost of housing and meals.

Restrictions

• Each individual applicant, regardless of whether he or she is applying as a master artist or an apprentice, may submit only one application per year.
• If a master artist / apprentice team has been awarded grants two years in a row, that team must wait one year before applying again as a team.

This grant does not support:

• Traditional Arts Apprenticeship proposals that involve occupations such as fishing, farming, or logging, unless they include the making of crafts associated with the occupation such as fishnets, boat building, harness making, ox yoke making, or wood carving.
• Contemporary fine arts and crafts, such as oil-painting, screen printing, etching, glass blowing, sculpture, and ceramics.
• Theater arts such as opera, play writing, or acting.
• Healing arts such as massage or acupuncture.
• Decorative body arts such as tattoo or body painting.

How to Apply
A successful Traditional Arts Apprenticeship is built upon trust and respect. Therefore, individuals interested in applying for this grant should identify someone they would like to work with and then apply together as a team. In some cases, the Traditional Arts Program can provide information on individuals working in traditional art forms in New Hampshire, but it is up to the individuals to contact each other.

The master / apprentice team need to work together to develop a plan for what they would like to do during the Apprenticeship and then complete the application form together.

• Print out the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Application Form: MSWord / PDF
• Please remember to include the required support materials (see the application for more information).

Applicants are encouraged to contact Lynn Martin Graton, Traditional Arts Coordinator, at 603/271-8418 or lynn.j.graton@dcr.nh.gov to discuss their project.

Deadline
Applications must be postmarked or hand delivered to the NH State Council on the Arts office at 2 ½ Beacon St, second floor, Concord, by 4:15 p.m. on the deadline date noted above. Office hours are Monday - Friday, 8:15 a.m. - 4:15 p.m. The office is closed all state and most federal holidays. Late applications will not be accepted. The Council cannot accept applications transmitted by facsimile (FAX) or be responsible for applications lost in transit. Errors and omissions may affect a panel's evaluation of your application, so please prepare your application carefully and follow instructions.

Notification
Applicants will be notified of their application status approximately four months following the application deadline.

Payment
The maximum combined grant amount for a master artist / apprentice team is $4,000. Within this amount, the maximum request for a master artist is $3,000 and the maximum request for an apprentice is $1,000.

If funded for a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant, the State Arts Council issues two contracts—one to the master artist and one to the apprentice.

• The master artist contract covers master artist fees, supplies and travel expenses. Payment to the master artist is made in two installments: 60% at the beginning of the Apprenticeship and the remaining 40% when the project is nearing completion.
• The apprentice contract covers supplies and travel expenses. The apprentice receives 100% payment at the beginning of the Apprenticeship.

The NHSCA disperses funds appropriated from public sources, both federal and state. Processing of grants is subject to procedures developed to ensure public accountability. Checks are issued by the Central Administrative Services of State of NH, not the Department of Cultural Resources or the NHSCA. If an individual is awarded $2,500 or more from the State Arts Council during a fiscal year, payment can take up to ten weeks after the receipt of properly executed grant forms. Therefore, we ask applicants to plan cash flow accordingly. All awards are subject to availability of state and federal funds.

Master artists and apprentices are responsible for all applicable federal taxes. We urge grant recipients to keep all receipts and other appropriate records for tax filing purposes.

IMPORTANT:

• All grant agreements must be returned by January 1 of the fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) in which they are awarded. Failure to return the grant agreement by that date may result in the cancellation of the grant and reallocation of funds.
• Payment of a grant will be withheld if the final reports for previous grants are not in compliance with policy below.

Grant Period and Final Report
If awarded a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant, the master artist / apprentice team should schedule meetings over a 6-10 month period. The team must meet for a minimum of 80 hours and can meet for up to 120 hours during the project period.

The grant period is July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009. A final report is due by July 31, 2009. An extension of up to three months may be requested by writing to the grant coordinator responsible for administering the grant. The request should be sent no later than July 15, 2009 and should briefly note why the extension is necessary and the date the report will be submitted. A status report will be due with the request.

Failure to submit the final report by the required date will result in grantees becoming ineligible to apply for NHSCA funding for two years. Additionally, failure to submit the final report may result in a withholding of funds from any currently awarded NHSCA grant. Click here for the Final Report Download Center.

Funding Criteria
A panel of community-based cultural specialists reviews the applications and makes funding recommendations to the State Council. The following criteria are used by reviewers to evaluate and rate applications:

• Appropriateness of the art form to this funding category.
• Excellence of master artist's work.
• Recognition and community support of master artist.
• Commitment of the master artist to perpetuate the tradition and work with the apprentice.
• Readiness of apprentice.
• Quality of apprentice’s work.
• Commitment of apprentice to perpetuate the tradition and share knowledge with others after the grant period.
• A clear work plan with goals, steps for accomplishing them, and a budget that matches the plan.

Funding Priorities
Funding for Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grants is limited and awarded on a competitive basis. To provide for the equitable distribution of funds, when two applications have been rated as having equal merit by the panel, the State Arts Council will give funding priority to master artists who are applying for the first time.

Narrative Questions
See the application form.

Required Support Materials
See Preparation of Work Samples for instructions on preparing work samples/support materials.

For master artists:

• Two letters of support
• Work Sample appropriate to art form-- photographs, slides, digital images on CD-R, VHS video-tapes, compact discs, DVDs, and/or audio-tapes

For apprentice:

• Two letters of support
• Work Sample appropriate to art form-- photographs, slides, digital images on CD-R, VHS video-tapes, compact discs, DVDs, and/or audio-tapes

How to Prepare the Application Package
Please do not put the application in a 3-ring binder or plastic protective sheets.

1. Each master / apprentice team should complete one application form that has the original signature of the master artist and the apprentice.
2. Include one copy of the appropriate support materials (letters & photos, videos, etc.) as requested above.
3. Make a copy of the application for your files.
4. Mail or deliver the application and materials to: NH State Council on the Arts, 2 1/2 Beacon Street, second floor, Concord, NH 03301 by the deadline.

Application Review Process
Each year, a review panel made up of community members knowledgeable in cultural traditions is assembled. The panel members read each application and then attend a meeting where support materials are reviewed and each application is discussed. Panelists then assign a numeric rating to each application based on the funding criteria listed above. Ratings are averaged and listed in priority order. Recommendations, based on funds available, are forwarded to the State Arts Councilors for review and approval. If an individual's cumulative total of grants received from the State Arts Council for that fiscal year (July 1 - June 30) is $2,500 or more, the grant recommendation must also be submitted to the Governor and Executive Council for final approval.

Last updated: October 19, 2007