FOLKLIFE IN FOCUS – Who Receives Folklife Funding?
Welcome to the Follow the Folklorist blog! Founded by Rebecca Snetlesaar and currently led by Nevada State Folklorist Brad McMullen, our blog is dedicated to exploring the rich tapestry of cultures, traditions, and celebrations that make Nevada such a vibrant state. Through our two main topics, Folklife in Focus and Notes from the Field, Brad will share his unique insights and experiences, providing a captivating glimpse into the diverse and fascinating world of Nevada folk traditions. Join us on this exciting journey as we delve into the stories, customs, and heritage that shape our state’s identity. Get ready to be inspired and amazed!
Who Receives Folklife Funding
As we finish out one fiscal year and move on to the next, I think it’s important to reflect upon how funding has been distributed this year and what the hopes might be for the next. So far, 10 Folklife awards have been given—one Nevada Heritage Fellowship, six Folklife Artist Grants, and three Folklife Community Grants. Grant opportunities for the next fiscal year (starting July 1) are now open.
Before I talk about the recipients, however, I think it’s important to look at the goals for this funding and why they are important. Because folk arts and traditions are the things of regular life in many cases, it might seem like they don’t need the support. But in fact, most of the time, people and organizations perpetuating our important cultural traditions pay for that out of their own pocket. While there is joy and fulfillment in doing so, those won’t pay for supplies, so support must be available for those who need them. Traditions survive because they are supported, and that support includes financial.
The Nevada Heritage Fellow is a new award this year. While the Nevada Arts Council used to have a Folklife Artists Fellowship, it had not been awarded for several years. It came back for 2025 in a new form, modeled more closely after the other Artist Fellowships offered by the Nevada Arts Council and the National Heritage Fellowship provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. This award recognizes the traditional artists and culture bearers whose work has contributed to continuing their community’s cultural traditions and, by doing so, contributing to the cultural traditions of Nevada as a whole. The 2025 Nevada Heritage Fellow is Iyana Esters. And if you want to know more about Iyana, stay tuned; we’ve got something special coming out soon.
As its name suggests, the Folklife Artist Grant is an opportunity for individual artists to receive funding for traditional arts activities, focusing on projects that help perpetuate the tradition. This year’s six traditions that received funding included Hawaiian Pidgin storytelling, Ghanaian drumming and dance, African-American body percussion, Caribbean and West African food, Chinese singing, and Mexica dance. This wide variety of traditions is only a small sample of all the different traditions around the state, so I’m hoping for even more variety next year! But it represents a good mixture of the different ethnic communities and performance traditions present here in Nevada, with the inclusion of foodways – our grants might not be able to pay for food, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use one of our grants to teach your communities traditions involving food!
The Folklife Community Grant is available for nonprofits to support their cultural activities and events. This year, three traditions received funding: Egyptian music and dance, traditional crochet techniques, and traditional music and dance from the state of Morelos in Mexico. Like the Folklife Artist Grants, these represent a mix of traditions and art forms. Some applications are pending review, so there’s still more to come this fiscal year.
So that’s a year in folklife funding! Compared to our other grant programs, there are fewer folklife grants, but that doesn’t mean there’s any less impact. Since most of the folklife funding is administered on a rolling basis, people can come up with program ideas throughout the year and get them funded much more quickly. So, if you’ve ever thought about picking up a traditional art form or know of someone in your community who has a gift they need to share and pass down to others, please be in touch! There’s support waiting for you.
Visit the Nevada Folklife Archives on Flickr
Folklorists working for the Nevada Arts Council have been documenting folklife and folk arts in Nevada since 1986. After completing an ambitious 10-year project to digitize 22,823 color slides recorded between 1986 and 2005.
We’ve begun to share these images in photo albums on the Nevada Folklife Archives’ Flickr page, along with more recent photography completed over the past 15 years.
Are you conducting a project and looking for photographs? We’ll happily check the archives and post new albums for your viewing pleasure.