LINKS IN A
CHAIN
The Continuity of Tradition
The South Dakota Arts Council’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program
When the South Dakota Arts Council reinstated its
Traditional Arts Program in
1999, one of their priorities was to resume an apprenticeship program, which had
been very successful during its earlier incarnation in the 1980s. With funding
from the National Endowment for the Arts’ Folk & Traditional Arts Infrastructure
program as well as state funds, the first round of six apprenticeships was
awarded in 2000-2001. Since then, 36 additional apprenticeship have been
undertaken in art forms as diverse as Midwestern fiddling, German Russian willow
basketry, Lakota hoop dancing, Damascus knife making, Finnish weaving, saddlemaking, buffalo horn spoon carving, Ukrainian Easter eggs, Norwegian wood
carving, and Dakota quillwork.
Apprenticeship grants support a master artists to work intensively with one
apprentice (or occasionally two or three) to pass on the details of a
traditional art form, with the intention that the students will then be able to
carry on that tradition into the future. Traditional and folk arts are learned
informally, in families and cultural communities, through observation, imitation
and one-on-one work with a more experienced person. The SDAC Apprenticeship
Program is based on this time-honored system of teaching and learning, honoring
the elders and encouraging the passing on of South Dakota’s traditions to new
generations. Grant funds also help apprentices acquire necessary tools,
equipment, and materials for their work, and help with travel costs and other
expenses of getting the master and student together frequently.
One of the most satisfying results of the program has been seeing some former
apprentices now working as masters to pass on what they have learned. Several of
the artists in the program have also become part of the Arts Council’s touring
and school rosters, and a number have had their work featured in exhibits around
the state.
Traditional arts live in the hearts and hands of the people who create them,
and in the communities that nurture and support them. The South Dakota Arts
Council is pleased to play a small part in honoring those artists and supporting
them in keeping their unique skills and talents alive by passing them on to
future generations.
The Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program is a project of the South Dakota
Arts Council/South Dakota Department of Tourism and State Development, and South
Dakotans for the Arts, with additional funding from the National Endowment for
the Arts.
 
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