2016 NEA National Heritage Fellowship Guidelines Announced

The nomination guidelines for the 2016 NEA National Heritage Fellowships are now available on arts.gov. The deadline for new nominations is July 16, 2015. You may submit your nomination through our website at this link. Please, pass it on and share with others. 

From the NEA website:

"To honor and preserve our nation's diverse cultural heritage, the National Endowment for the Arts annually awards up to eight NEA National Heritage Fellowships to master folk and traditional artists. These fellowships recognize lifetime achievement, artistic excellence, and contributions to our nation's traditional arts heritage.. 

The folk and traditional arts, which include crafts, dance, music, oral traditions, visual arts, and others, are those that are learned as part of the cultural life of a community whose members share a common ethnic heritage, cultural mores, language, religion, occupation, or geographic region. These traditions are shaped by the aesthetics and values of a shared culture and are passed from generation to generation, most often within family and community through observation, conversation, and practice.

Nominees must be worthy of national recognition and have a record of continuing artistic accomplishment. They must be actively participating in their art form, either as practitioners or as teachers. Awards will be up to $25,000 and may be received once in a lifetime. No payment will be made to the estate or heirs of a deceased recipient."

You may now be wondering about the 2015 NEA National Heritage Fellowships. They will be announced on June 9th.

For inquiries and further details, contact Cheryl Schiele, Folk & Traditional Arts Specialist for the National Endowment for the Arts.