MIDDLEBURY — The Vermont Folklife Center announces the continuation of the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program for its 24th year. Initiated to support Vermont’s living cultural heritage, the program provides stipends of up to $2,000 as honoraria and to cover such expenses as materials and travel. Under the auspices of the program, traditional arts such as blacksmithing, Abenaki basket making, Franco American singing, and Bhutanese Nepali folk dancing have received support.
A traditional arts apprenticeship brings teachers and learners together who share a common commitment to keeping these art forms alive. It pairs a community-acknowledged master artist who has achieved a high level of expertise in his or her art form with a less-experienced apprentice. The master and apprentice jointly plan when, where, and what they expect to accomplish over the course of the apprenticeship. Apprenticeship schedules reflect the time constraints of both master and apprentice and range from short-term, intensive sessions to meetings spread over the course of a year.
With funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the 300+ apprenticeships supported during the first 23 years of the program represent a broad spectrum, from the arts of Abenaki, Yankee, and Franco American regional cultures, to the arts of Somali Bantu, Burundian, Tibetan, Bosnian, Bhutanese Nepali and other new American communities.
Information and application forms for the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program are available from the Vermont Folklife Center, 88 Main Street, Middlebury, VT 05753, 802-388-4964 or vermontfolklifecenter.org/education/apprenticeship/.
The deadline for applications for this year’s program is Friday, July 28th.