EUGENE, Ore. – (March 14, 2023) – Five traditional artists in Oregon will receive a $3,500 stipend to teach their art forms to apprentices from their same communities, Tribes, sacred, or occupational groups. The Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (TAAP) is one way the University of Oregon’s Oregon Folklife Network supports traditional master artists around Oregon.

A state-level honor of great prestige, TAAP awards are often a precursor for traditional artists to be nominated for the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship award. Funding for TAAP comes from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. Applications are accepted annually until October for funding in the next calendar year.

The stipend supports master artists and culture keepers in sharing their knowledge, skills and expertise with apprentices of great promise who will be empowered to carry on and strengthen Oregon’s living cultural traditions. The 2023 cohort includes a Hawaiian hula dancer, a Mexican charro, a traditional West African dancer and drummer, a South Indian classical musician, and a Grand Ronde basket weaver. 

The artists to receive awards are: 

Sreevidhya Chandramouli

Sreevidhya is a tenth generation descendent from the illustrious Karaikudi Vina Tradition of South India. She trained in the traditional gurukulam (living with/near the teacher) setting under her mother Rajeswari Padmanabhan. Sreevidhya has served as artist-in-residence at University of Washington and University of Oregon and briefly served as adjunct faculty at University of Oregon. Her apprentice is Nidhi Yadalam.

Photo: https://mnch.uoregon.edu/media/5475 

Stephanie Craig

Stephanie is a descendent of Santiam and Yoncalla Kalapuya, Takelma Rogue River, Cow Creek Umpqua, and Clackamas Chinook ancestry. She is a seventh-generation traditional basket weaver and ethnobotanist (the traditional harvesting, preparation, and storage of indigenous plants) from a long line of strong traditional women-weavers in her tribe. Stephanie first learned to weave through the oral traditions of her family when she was young, then through early and informal apprenticeships with elders from the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis, Suquamish Indian Tribe, and the Lummi Nation, and later studied under three of the most accomplished Tribal basket makers in Oregon – the late Sanda “Sam” Henny (Grand Ronde), the late Minerva Soucie (Burns-Paiute), the late Pat Courtney Gold (Wasq’u) – and renowned anthropologist Margaret Mathewson. Stephanie’s apprentice is Dakota Zimmer.

Photo: https://mnch.uoregon.edu/media/5611 

José Antonio Huerta

Jose Antonio Huerta performs traditional charrería, a skill of horsemanship, cattle work, and a sophisticated rope work that dates back to the 1500s. Antonio showcases his work at local community gatherings. His father and grandparents were excellent horsemen and talented in the use of the rope and always strived to pass on those talents to him. Antonio has now been performing charrería for over 19 years. His apprentice is Miguel Ruiz Topete, Jr.

Photo: https://mnch.uoregon.edu/media/5606 

Kumu Hula Andrea Luchese

Andrea is the Kumu Hula (master teacher) for Hālau Hula Ka Pi’o O Ke Ānuenue “the arch of the rainbow,” a Hawaiian cultural dance school she formed in 2007. Andrea has taught hula in her community since 2003. In 2014 she became an ‘uniki (graduated) kumu hula, under Kumu Hula Raylene Haʻaleleʻa Kawaiaeʻa and Kumu Hula Keala Ching, both Native Hawaiians, and the hula traditions of Halau ʻO Haʻaleleʻa and Na Wai ʻIwi Ola, respectively. Her apprentice is Tia ‘Ohi’a Lehua Kumakua ‘Ahihi McLean.

Photo: https://mnch.uoregon.edu/media/5605 

Alseny Yansane

Since age seven, Alseny Yansane has been immersed in the musical and dance tradition of his native country, Guinea, West Africa. Alseny trained and performed in many competitions as a dancer, drummer, and acrobat during the dawn of the Republic’s newly won independence from France. His apprentice is Mamadouba ‘Papa’ Yansane.

Photo: https://mnch.uoregon.edu/media/5607 

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About Oregon Folklife Network

Oregon Folklife Network is administered by the Museum of Natural and Cultural History at the University of Oregon and is the state’s designated Folk and Traditional Arts Program.

About the Museum of Natural and Cultural History 

The Museum of Natural and Cultural History enhances knowledge of Earth’s environments and cultures, inspiring stewardship of our collective past, present, and future. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and open until 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays. The museum is located at 1680 E. 15th Ave., near Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for youths and seniors, and $12 for families (two adults and up to four youths). Reduced admission is available for visitors presenting Oregon Trail or other EBT cards. Admission is free to members and UO ID card holders. For general information call 541-346-3024.

Media Contact: 

Lexie Briggs, Museum of Natural and Cultural History, lbriggs@uoregon.edu,

541-346-5083

Related links: 

https://mnch.uoregon.edu/2023-taap-awardees

https://mnch.uoregon.edu/traditional-arts-apprenticeship-program