The Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program is designed to encourage the survival, continued development, and proliferation of our state’s diverse folklife traditions, especially those that are rare or endangered. Funding is awarded to eligible teams of master artists and apprentices committed to preserving, through one-on-one training, a traditional art form deeply rooted in their community and cultural heritage. Such practices include traditional music, visual art, crafts, dance, foodways, calendar and life-cycle customs, and occupational skills. Traditional art forms are those learned and passed down informally by imitation, word of mouth, or observation and performance in cultural communities that share family, ethnic, tribal, regional, occupational, or religious identity. Masters and Apprentices are selected by a panel of specialists in traditional arts and folklife.