Program/Grant: Midwest Culture Bearers Award
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Meet Jeremy Red Eagle, The Bow-Maker Teaching Dakota Traditions
April 29, 2025
Taking a holistic approach that includes responsibly harvesting natural materials, Red Eagle teaches the traditional art of bow-making from wood, plants, hides, bone, and more.
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Meet Aimee Lee, an Artist-Educator Expanding the Legacy of Korean Papermaking
April 14, 2025
Lee combines tradition, identity, and experimentation to bring the art of hanji to the Midwest and beyond.
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Meet Tamra Jetter, a Community Connector for Iowa Youth
April 7, 2025
Jetter works broadly across cultural genres to continue her family’s long legacy of promoting Black history and culture in a town where it’s otherwise dwindling.
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Meet Martha Buche, a Potawatomi Artist Teaching Traditional Copper Bowl-Making
March 17, 2025
Based in the Driftless region of Wisconsin, Buche shares her skills with students seeking new experiences and ancient wisdom.
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Meet Pieper Bloomquist, a Painter Bringing Swedish Folk Art to the People
March 3, 2025
Pieper Bloomquist breathes new life into the traditions of dalmålning and bonadsmålning, mixing contemporary stories with historic Swedish icongraphy.
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Meet Stafford C. Berry, Jr., an Artist-Scholar Teaching Embodiment Through African Dance
February 19, 2025
The Bloomington-based director of IU’s African American Dance Company continues a long lineage of dance, community, and exploration.
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Meet Rubén Pachas, The Dancer Spreading Indigenous Peruvian Traditions
February 4, 2025
Pachas’s traditional dances pass down indigenous values through stories about bridge building, Mother Earth, and even Lake Michigan.
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Meet Gean Vincent Almendras, a Michigan Teacher-Practitioner of Traditional Philippine Music
January 21, 2025
The Ann Arbor-based artist and scholar builds bridges between Filipino diasporic and indigenous communities through music.
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Meet Paul Summers, The Native Musician Putting Mission Over Money
January 6, 2025
Through his Native American rock band, Paul Summers rejected commercial success in order to reach younger generations with messages of cultural acceptance and reconciliation instead.
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Martha Buche
Martha Buche is one of nine winners of the 2024 Midwest Culture Bearers Award. This award celebrates artisans and folk arts practitioners whose work is rooted in cultural preservation and...