Program/Grant: Folk and Traditional Arts

From growing their materials to teaching others the craft, Lee Zieke and Lindsay Lee’s artistic practices are creatively interwoven with their lives.

Okaidja Afroso's week-long World Fest residency brought music into schools, stores, and a Main Street theater, spreading connection and curiosity in small town Albion.

Arlene Fairbanks and Jessica Travis opened a one-stop shop to support sewing and regalia-making, an important cultural and creative practice for Native Americans.

In Indigenous culture, the arts aren’t mere entertainment but a vital practice grounded in community. Those arts include hoop dancing, a form of storytelling through movement. Starr Chief Eagle is among a generation of women making the traditionally male practice their own.

Finnish music sensation Okra Playground brought its captivating and charming sound to South Dakota, connecting cultures through music.

If we told you there’s a farm where calving, cheese-making, watercolor painting, and singing (to cows) converge, would you believe us?

The music of Alaskan ensemble Pamyua moved communities in rural Wisconsin and Michigan, creating "one-in-a-lifetime" moments of connection, collaboration and curiosity.

An act of preservation in 1911 made way for this living project that reclaims Lakota culture, knowledge and religious freedom.

A space is truly of the community when it is shaped by the needs of the people it serves. The Sitting Bull Visitor Center in Fort Yates, North Dakota, the tribal headquarters of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, is recognizing and addressing its community’s need for holistic education around food sovereignty through their proposed Open Kitchen. This initiative complements their rich portfolio of offerings related to Indigenous knowledge and tradition.

As Executive Director of Heritage Works in Detroit, Michigan, Rhonda Greene has spent decades connecting folks to West African cultural traditions through youth programs, community programs, and placemaking efforts. Arts Midwest spoke with Rhonda about cultural reclamation, placemaking, skill sharing, and the moves we need to memorize for a brighter future.