MSAC Awards $75,000 in Folklife Apprenticeships

MSAC's traditional arts program, Maryland Traditions, has awarded $75,000 to artists in the state through the Folklife Apprenticeship grant. The funding supports the sharing of traditional arts skills from a master artist to an apprentice artist during a one-year teaching period. Fifteen grants of $5,000 each have been awarded for the 2023-2024 granting period to the teams listed below, with master artists named first:

- Samia Ahmad (Montgomery County) & Nora Ahsan (Montgomery County): Hindustani classical music

- Christina Allen (St. Mary's County) & Abigail Greenwell (St. Mary's County): Kitchen gardening

- Kenneth Allen (Prince George's County) & Woyneab Wondwossen (Prince George's County): Ethiopian k’rar

- Yara Cordeiro (Montgomery County) & Michael Rochon Jr. (Montgomery County): Afro-Brazilian capoeira

- Pablo de Oliveira (Prince George’s County) & Felipe de Almeida (Montgomery County): Brazilian choro music

- Linda Goss (Baltimore City) & Patricia Smart (Washington County): Black storytelling

- Loretta Kelley (Montgomery County) & Laura Hummel (Carroll County): Norwegian Hardanger fiddle

- Kalin Kirilov (Baltimore County) & Yana Kirilova (Baltimore County): Bulgarian folk music

- Catherine Lamont (Montgomery County) & Leó Qualls (Baltimore County): Hungarian folk dance

- ?m?lará McCallister (Baltimore City) & Savannah Wade (Baltimore City): Afro-Brazilian capoeira

- Billy McComiskey (Baltimore County) & Richard Osban (Baltimore City): Irish traditional music

- Cathy Smith (Baltimore City) & Oreoluwa Akinsanmi (Baltimore City): Yoruba masquerade costume design

- Hess Stinson (Queen Anne's County) & Elana Casey (Montgomery County): Hoodoo healing

- Pansay Tayo (Baltimore City) & Toshima Cook (Anne Arundel County): African-centered birthwork practices

- Paula Whaley (Baltimore City) & Danyett Tucker (Baltimore County): Doll making