WAB Folk Arts Apprenticeship Awards

Application

Next deadline (FY11):
TBA

Application is now closed.

Guidelines

FY10 Guidelines (for reference only)

Peer Review

November 18, 2009
WAB Office, Madison

Peer review meetings are open to the public and all applicants are encouraged to attend.

Final Report

Next deadline: 6/15/10

MISC

PDF Help

Folk Arts Apprenticeships are designed to strengthen and preserve Wisconsin's traditional folk arts by supporting direct passage of knowledge and skills from a master artist to a talented learner. Outstanding traditional folk artists may use an apprenticeship grant in the amount of $3,000 to help cover the costs of the master artist’s fee, supplies and materials, and in some cases, travel expenses.

Map of FY09 Apprenticeship Awards
Sample Work Plan 1
Sample Work Plans 2-5

GRANT AMOUNTS

All grants will be awarded as $3,000 to the master artist or a fiscal receiver.

ELIGIBILITY

Priority is given to qualified applicants whose apprenticeship will help ensure the continuation of a traditional folk art in the community where it has value and a traditional place. Therefore we encourage apprentices to study with respected master artists from their own communities or ethnic groups. Successful apprenticeships are very often based upon close and frequent personal contact which is possible when apprentices and masters live near one another.

If the nature of the folk art allows, more than one apprentice may work with the same master artist at one time. Apprenticeships must involve only authentic traditional folk arts of Wisconsin. Apprentices should already have had some experience in the folk art they wish to study or in a related art form. Masters should be one of the finest practitioners of their art form in the community. Apprenticeships are not awarded to immediate family members of the master.

Within these guidelines we welcome applications for apprenticeships in any form of traditional folk art—from basketry to old time music, from beadwork and embroidery to ethnic dance or singing—as carried on by members of any of Wisconsin’s various cultural groups.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Applications to the Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program will be evaluated on the following criteria: 1) traditionality of the art form, 2) artistic quality of the master artist’s work, 3) demonstrated commitment and skill of the apprentice, 4) shared membership of the master artist and apprentice in a cultural community, and 5) feasibility of the proposed work plan.

APPLICATION PROCESS

You must fill out an application; PDF copies are available for you to download from this website. The application will ask questions about the master artist, the apprentice artist(s), the art form, its connection to a cultural community, and the work plan. The work plan is an explanation of how and what the master artist will teach to the apprentice. You will also be asked about your ideas for a final public presentation of the art created during the apprenticeship, a requirement of the program. You will also be asked to provide a budget for how you will spend the $3,000.

Along with the application, you will need to send a work sample to WAB. This is supporting materials that give evidence of the master artist’s skills. You will need to submit the application and work samples by the application postmark deadline.

A folk arts review panel will convene to evaluate the applications and make funding recommendations. Anyone is allowed to attend those meetings as a silent observer. The panel’s recommendations will be reviewed by the Wisconsin Arts Board at its December meeting. WAB staff will notify applicants as to how their application fared following the board meeting.

APPRENTICESHIP PROCESS

Awards will be distributed to the master artist in two payments: $2,000 at the start of the apprenticeship, and $1,000 after your public project has been completed and the final report has been accepted by WAB. All funds go to the master artist only, none to the apprentice. The apprenticeship and public presentation can occur during the period January 1, 2010 - June 30, 2010. The final report is due thirty days later, on July 31, 2010.

During the apprenticeship, WAB staff will visit the master and apprentice artists to meet the pair, observe the instruction and document the apprenticeship with photographs. The master artist and apprentice also will be asked to document the apprenticeship through photos, a diary, or other means.

Updated: November 09, 2009