Virginia Folklife Awards Five Apprenticeships to Preserve Traditional Arts

Charlottesville — Today, the Virginia Folklife Program of Virginia Humanities awarded five teams of artists Folklife Apprenticeships for 2025–2026, totaling $25,000 in support of mentor artists and their apprentices. Since 2002, Virginia Folklife has funded 149 apprenticeships in cultural traditions, serving 362 individuals to date.

Folklife Apprenticeships contribute to cultural sustainability through honoring the expertise of the mentor artist, funding deep learning for the apprentice, and introducing cultural heritage to fellow Virginians.

In addition to financial support — each team receives $5,000 for 12 months of self-designed learning — this opportunity connects these cultural ambassadors with new audiences. Virginia Folklife collaborates with apprenticeship teams to share their story on Virginia Humanities platforms and teams are also featured in public programs presented by Virginia Humanities.

“Our five apprenticeships this year include two teams working in wood (draft horse forestry and instrument making in Southwest Virginia), two teams working in clay (salt glaze pottery in Southwest Virginia and Mattaponi black ware pottery in Tidewater), and a team working with textiles (African American quilting in Richmond),” said Katy Clune, Virginia state folklorist. “We are honored to help support these talented, community-oriented Virginians with these awards and grateful for the support we received to fund this cohort.”

The 2025 cohort is made possible with support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Anne and Gene Worrell Foundation, the Mid Atlantic Arts’ Central Appalachia Living Traditions program, and the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

The next round of Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program applications will open in November 2025 and close in April 2026. Learn more at VirginiaFolklife.org/apprenticeships.

More information — including detailed bios of mentor artists and apprentices — is available at VirginiaFolklife.org/news.

Virginia Humanities is the state humanities council. We’re headquartered in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia, but we serve the entire state. We aim to share the stories of all Virginians — or, better yet, find ways for people to share their own stories. We want Virginians to connect with their history and culture and, in doing that, we hope we’ll all get to know each other a little better. Founded in 1974, we are one of fifty-six humanities councils created by Congress with money and support from the National Endowment for the Humanities to make the humanities available to all Americans. To learn more, visit VirginiaHumanities.org.