Traditional Arts Apprenticeship
Whether Native or imported, the Traditional Art Apprenticeship Program helps communities preserve their own cultural heritage by providing an opportunity for master traditional artists to pass on their skills to a qualified apprentice. Traditional arts reflect a community's shared way of life. Many of these practices are rooted in a longstanding sense of place, community and cultural identity. More than just lessons, Master traditional artists seek to share this understanding of their culture with their apprentices. Such an exchange is usually learned in an informal, "give and take" way, through example or imitation rather than formal academic training and can take many forms including vocal and instrumental music, folk and ethnic dance, instrument making, dance, storytelling, crafts and occupational traditions like boat building, chainsaw carving and sail making.
Based on their experience and commitment to the traditional art form they practice, masters and apprentices apply to work together on a one-to-one instructional basis. Up to $4,000 is available for the master artists' teaching fee, apprentices' supplies and travel costs. Grant recipients are eligible to reapply after skipping one application cycle every 3 years. The master artist and apprentice must submit one joint application. Preference will be given to selecting apprentices who are members of the same ethnic, religious, occupational, tribal or familial group as the master artist.
- Deadline June 18, 2010
- Grant amount $4,000
Who is Eligible to Apply
- A Master artist is recognized by their community for their expertise in a particular traditional art form and has developed his/her skills within a traditional context rather than through classes, books or other means of formal instruction.
- An Apprentice demonstrates competency in the art form prior to the apprenticeship and shows serious commitment to learning the tradition.
- Master artist must be a full-time resident of Maine, 18 years of age or older at the time of the application and not enrolled as a full-time student in a field related to the application.
Review Process
Applications are reviewed by members of the Maine Arts Commission's Traditional Arts Committee and/or members of the public selected for their expertise in specific fields. Jurors review the narrative questions and supporting material submitted by the applicant.
Recommendations are presented to the Maine Arts Commission at its next regularly scheduled meeting for approval of the selection process.
Review Criteria
Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant proposals are reviewed on a competitive basis using the following criteria:
- Artistic quality of master work according to the standards of the traditional community.
- Role of the artist and art form in community life.
- Significance of tradition.
- Skill and commitment of apprentice.
- Feasibility of work plan.
- Likelihood of a successful collaboration between master and apprentice.
- Potential impact of apprenticeship on continued vitality of traditional art.
Required Application Materials
Please review the following required materials carefully in preparing your application materials. Failure to comply with these requirements will result in disqualification of your application. Only complete applications will be accepted. Please do not submit work in elaborate file folders or packaging. Make copies of all application materials for your records prior to submitting them.
Preparing your documents for submission - All word documents must be saved as .doc or .rtf files and follow the following naming convention: lastname_firstname_TitleOfDocument.rtf (example: veilleux_lisa_resume.doc or veilleux_lisa_narrative.rtf).
- eGRANT Application
You will be asked to upload biographical information, application narrative and letters of support through eGRANT.
- Biographical Information
Include a biographical sketch, letters of support, newspaper articles and other promotional materials that relate to the apprenticeship. Master traditional artists should submit a biography of not less than 350 words providing information about the master's role in the community, family background and how he/she developed their skill. Apprentices should submit a biography of not less than 250 words, providing information about thier connection to the community, their introduction to and progress in the art and current skill levels.
- Vendor Form (form below)
This is information used by the Treasury to generate a check if the grant is awarded. Applicants should be sure to indicate the address the check should be sent to. You must mail form with your signature to our office. Faxed copies are not accepted.
- Application Narrative (form below)
Master artists and apprentices must answer several questions as part of the application process. Master artists must complete part A, apprentices complete part B, and both Master and apprentice complete part C.
- Letters of support
Submit up to three letters of support by a community member stating the qualifications of both the master artist and selected apprentice.
- Artistic Materials
Master artists must submit materials in the required formats. Artistic materials are the most important aspect of your presentation to the jury, and it is essential that they are of the professional quality necessary to represent your artwork well. Each applicant must submit, via CD or DVD, one complete set of properly labeled artistic materials through the mail. A list describing these samples, including titles, dimensions, length of performance, title of poems, etc., must be included. If work samples for the apprentice are available, clearly differentiate the work of the master from the work of the apprentice.
- Visual submission (CD Rom):
- The application package must include one set of five images, depicting individual pieces, installations, designs models or products. Detail shots may be included.
- Required image format is a digital/scanned image saved as a .jpg. The image needs to be at least 500 x 360 pixels in size with a maximum single dimension of 1024 and saved at a resolution of 72 dpi.
- Save your image using the following convention:
- Artist name_title of image_year of work.jpg (Example: JaneDoe_Untitled_2004.jpg).
- Maximum of 72 characters in the file name.
- Name cannot contain any spaces or characters other than letters, numbers, underscore or hyphen.
- Work samples must be accompanied by a list that includes titles, dimensions, materials and date for each image submitted.
- Represented work must be current, preferably within the past three years, except in the case of large-scale installations.
- Audio and video submission (CD Rom or DVD):
- The application package must include quality recording(s) in CD ROM or DVD format.
- Required formats are:
- Video: .avi or .mov files
- Audio: .mp3 or .wav files
- Recording selection(s) set at a maximum of 15 minute review time and can include a single piece or multiple pieces as edited by the artist to best present the artists work and concept.
- If an artist is submitting a commercially produced CD or DVD then they must clearly indicate selected tracks or portions of tracks. These submissions should allow for jurors to hear/watch selected segments of larger works without viewing the entire piece.
- DVDs and CDs should contain enough space between selections to alert the jurors that they are beginning to assess a new work.
- Must include a separate sheet listing the artist’s name, title(s) of work(s), date(s) of completion, running time(s) when applicable, format of support material, best viewing platform (PC/MAC) and any special presentation instructions, and additional production credits.
- Represented work must be current, preferably within the past three years.
Mail audio and video artistic materials and the vendor form to the Maine Arts Commission, TAA, 193 State Street, Augusta, Maine 04333-0025.
STOP!
Each Applicant must speak with Kathleen Mundell, traditional arts specialist, 207/236-6741 or mainetraditionalarts@gmail.com, about the project before submitting an application. Failure to do so will disqualify the application. Please note that it is important that these conversations take place well in advance of the application deadline, in order to be effective in shaping the application and guiding the master and apprentice to a successful proposal.
The master artist and apprentice(s) must meet to discuss the course of study and to complete the appliation. The master artist and apprentice(s) must combine their materials and submit one joint application package under the name of the master artist.
How to Apply
Applicants are required to apply through the Maine Arts Commission e-GRANT system. E-GRANT will accept applications until 11:59 pm, E.S.T., however; agency staff is only available to answer questions until 5:00 pm, E.S.T. Because of the volume of e-GRANT submissions on the day of any grant deadline, we strongly recommend you give yourself a 24 hour buffer.
Applicants who are unable to apply through e-GRANT must contact Kathy Ann Shaw at 207/287-2750, 877/887-3878 TTY/NexTalk User ID: kathy.shaw or kathy.shaw@maine.gov to discuss an alternative prior to applying. Alternative submissions will not be accepted without prior authorization.
The agency will not accept late or incomplete applications under any circumstance.
Grant information is available in large print format by request. All Maine Arts Commission programs are accessible to people with disabilities. All programs funded by the Maine Arts Commission must also be accessible.
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