Find Your Folklife

we are the folk, all of us

The Nevada Arts Council’s Folklife Friends and Neighbors Initiative is about you—your family, your neighbors, your friends, your community. It’s also about us—who we are as Nevadans navigating the challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century.

Folklife, folk arts, and folklore all spring from cultural identity, which comes from belonging to a social group. Family heritage—national or ethnic—often informs a person’s sense of self. Cultural identity may also derive from language, gender, religion, age, occupation, and locality or sense of place. Folk traditions are typically shared in informal ways and passed from one person to another by word of mouth, imitation, or observation.

Culture is something we share with others in a social group. It’s our folklife: our common values and beliefs, the creative ways we express identity in a group, the knowledge we share, the objects that hold significance and meaning, the activities we engage in as a community. Most people belong to many different “folk groups” or communities. Every person is unique. Depending on where you are and who you are with, you may express different aspects of your own cultural identity.  Join us in a quest to “find your folklife”—and share on social media with the hashtag #NVFolkFAN.

Over the past three years we have been photographing Nevadans—your friends and neighbors—as they appear when representing cultural identity and as they appear in their everyday lives at home, on the job, or enjoying recreational activities. That work is represented in the 22 “lenticular two-flip” panels of this exhibition.  To find out more about lenticular art, click here.

Find Your Folklife is currently available for booking dates at your venue! Visit our Nevada Touring Initiative web pages for information and details.

Discover the people and their stories…

Para descubrir más sobre esta exposición, haga clic aquí.

Traditional dance performances were the highlight…

Aisha Virender Sanwal, Friends of India, Las Vegas

I represent the Guerrero Aguila…

Anastacio Duran, Danza Azteca Aztlan, Sparks

I play the bagpipes at funerals…

Andrew Fusco, Las Vegas Pipe Band, Las Vegas

We wear the sablay…

Arabelle Panganiban, Kalahi Philippine Folkloric Ensemble, Las Vegas

The Tunantada is a dance/drama…

Arturo Amaya, Las Vegas Peruvian Cultural Heritage

I’m a burlesque performer…

Buttercup, Burlesque Hall of Fame, Las Vegas

The charreria is who we are…

Carolina Vargas, Las Escaramuzas Perlas de Nevada, Silver Springs

I’m Basque on my dad’s side…

Jackquelyn Urain,  Euskaldunak Danak Bat, Winnemucca

The Lion Dance is a tradition…

JoeyRoss DeChavez, Lohan School of Shaolin, Las Vegas

Everybody wants to be Irish…

Mike Neville, Sons and Daughters of Erin, Las Vegas

I grew up in Puerto Rico…

Monica Ortiz, Puerto Rican Association of Las Vegas, Las Vegas

In Cote d’Ivoire…

Norbert Yao, Anouaze Beat, Carson City

I grew up in Japan…

Noriko Carroll, Kizuna Japanese Society, Las Vegas

I’m Norwegian, Swedish, Danish…

Richard Senzig, Sons of Norway, Las Vegas

The Holy Ghost Festa…

Savana Manha, Portuguese Pentecostal Festa, 

I work inside Hoover Dam…

Shawn Lynch, Hydroelectric Mechanic Supervisor, Hoover Dam, Boulder City

I am a Kumu Hula…

Sheldeen Kaleimomi Haleamau, Halau Hula O’Kaleimomi, Las Vegas

I’m a ranch wife…

Thaysha Groves, Groves Cattle Company, Deeth

I created a Native American superhero…

Theo Tso, Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, Las 

I’m a grass dancer…

Tristin Ike, Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone, Elko

I work in a gold mine…

T.J. Ladner, Mobile Maintenance Welder, Kinross Round Mountain Gold Corporation

People respond to Wolfie Jr…

Alex Daw, University of Nevada-Reno