These are websites at folk and traditional arts programs in state arts,
humanities, or other agencies.
Scroll to the bottom of this page for Regional Folk Arts Programs and 
Organizations with Multi-state regional reach.

ALABAMA

Alabama State Council on the Arts You can reach the Folk Arts Program from there as well as the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture. At the ACTC site are articles from Alabama Folkways, photographs, sound files to play, and lists of publications you can order.

CALIFORNIA

Alliance for California Traditional Arts The Alliance for California Traditional Arts works to "ensure California's future holds California's past by supporting the state's living cultural heritage. ACTA sustains traditional cultural arts through stewardship, connections and serivices to artists."  ACTA, a private non-profit organization, serves as the California Arts Council's partner in building a solid statewide communication and knowledge-sharing infrastructure for the folk & traditional arts field.

COLORADO

The Colorado Council on the Arts Lists the state folklorists and describes Colorado's Heritage Awards for Folk Masters (a half dozen artists who are "tradition-bearers" of their cultural group) are recognized each year).

CONNECTICUT

The Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program (CHAP) works with ethnic, occupational, and traditional communities throughout the state to explore their social, economic and political realities through traditional cultural and artistic expression. Serving as the official state-wide folk and traditional arts program, CHAP conducts fieldwork research in partnership with artists and other community members, and transforms research results into activities of interest to a broad audience. CHAP documents the state's diverse ethnic and occupational artistic traditions, and supports artists and their communities through educational and public programs that communicate these traditions to Connecticut citizens.

FLORIDA

The Division of Historical Resources Florida Folklife Program works to increase public access to Florida's living cultural resources. It serves Floridians through Folk Heritage Awards, Folklife in Education, Folklife Apprenticeships, a calendar of special events, and a variety of other activities.

GEORGIA

The Georgia Traditional Arts Program actively documents, supports, preserves and educates the public about Georgia's traditional folk culture. The program was created in 1987 with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Dekalb Council for the Arts, the Fulton County Council for the Arts, and the Governor's Office. In 1991, the Georgia Folklife Program found a permanent home in the Georgia Council for the Arts.
Click here for Local or Regional Folk Arts in Georgia.

IDAHO

The Idaho Commission on the Arts Folk and Traditional Arts Program web site provides links to on-line directories of Idaho Folk Artists, Idaho Folklife Organizations, and Artists and Tradition Bearers from Idaho Tribes. Also on-line is "A Survey of Latino Folklife in Idaho" prepared for the Idaho Commission on the Arts by Norma E. Cantú.

INDIANA

Traditional Arts Indiana, Indiana's state folk arts program, exists to identify, document and promote Indiana's traditional artists and arts statewide. TAI wishes to call attention to neglected art forms - from the spoken text to the hand-made object - forms that firmly ground and deeply connect individuals to their communities. TAI grows out of a partnership between the Indiana University Folklore Institute and the Indiana Arts Commission, in cooperation with local groups and agencies. 

IOWA

The mission of the Iowa Arts Council Iowa Folklife Program is to document, preserve, and promote the traditional culture of all our state's residents. "Iowa Roots features music, stories, and talk with traditional artists from a variety of ethnic, geographic, occupational, and religious groups found in Iowa."

KENTUCKY

The Kentucky Historical Society and The Kentucky Folklife Program. The Folklife Program is an interagency program of the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Arts Council that promotes the documentation, interpretation, and presentation of Kentucky's cultural resources though surveys, grants to the field, folklorist in residencies, and an annual state-wide folklife festival on the grounds of the Old State Capitol

LOUISIANA

Link to the Louisiana Folklife Program site. This website is organized in three parts:

• Louisiana Folklife Program within the Division of the Arts offers aids to planning and funding folklife projects, and resource lists of books, music, and videos. Go There.
• Louisiana's Living Traditions encompasses a virtual exhibit of Louisiana cultural traditions, photos, virtual books, articles and essays, and maps. Go There.
• Louisiana Voices: An Educator's Guide to Exploring our Communities and Traditions is a pioneering set of study guides for 4th through 8th grades, integrating state educational standards for social studies and English language arts. Go There.

Louisiana Folklife Festival highlights the continuing work of the Louisiana Folklife Program within the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism in order to document, preserve and promote Louisiana's folk culture resources.

         
                  MARYLAND

Maryland Traditions, a partnership of the Maryland State Arts Council  and the Maryland Historical Trust  is a statewide program that supports communities to discover, share, preserve and sustain traditional arts and culture Maryland Traditions connects people to one another and to a place and works directly with individuals and cultural institutions to encourage the vitality of living traditions and folk arts. Maryland Traditions shares information through publication, interpretation, presentation and outreach

MASSACHUSETTS

The aim of the  Folk Arts and Heritage Program of the Massachusetts Cultural Council is to identify craftspeople, performers and cultural specialists, help sustain the practice of tradition where they live, and increase appreciation of their artistry within the community and beyond. Through ongoing fieldwork, we locate, photograph and interview people carrying on traditional arts unique to the state's long-settled, ethnic and new immigrant communities. Our traditional arts archive of fieldnotes, slides, and tape-recorded interviews reflects the diversity of the living traditions from across the Commonwealth. 

MICHIGAN

Link to MTAP, the Michigan Traditional Arts Program at the Michigan State University Museum. From this index you can jump to the Festival of Michigan Folklife, Educational Programs, and more. Their site is developing, so keep a bookmark here.

MISSISSIPPI

Mississippi Arts Commission's "Crossroads of the Heart" – This site features Music, Handmade Objects, Maritime Traditions, Quilting, and Narrative (both spoken and written) Traditions with information of individuals and groups who epitomize the tradition.

MISSOURI

Link to the Missouri Folk Arts Program -- Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, Folk Arts Grants, and Regional Folklore.

MONTANA

Montana Arts Council Folklife Program, was created to identify, encourage, promote and document the folklife and traditional arts that are a vital part of Montana's cultural landscape.Montana Heritage Project, supervised by an Executive Committee made up of Peggy Bulger, American Folklife Center; Arnold Olsen, Montana Historical Society; Nancy Keenan, Superintendent of Public Instruction; Art Ortenberg and Liz Claiborne (of the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation); and Erik Burke, Office of the Governor.

NEBRASKA

The Nebraska Folklife Network is a statewide, nonprofit arts and humanities organization dedicated to advancing cross-cultural understanding and equity in a diverse society.  We do this through the documentation, preservation, and presentation of folk arts and folklife in Nebraska. 

NEVADA

Link to the Nevada State Arts Council site. A brief description of the folk arts program and list of all staff, as well as dates and deadlines and the overall mission can be found there. 
The Western Folklife Center is the headquarters of the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Voices of the West radio, and the many other programs of the Western Folklife Center. Located in Elko, Nevada, the Center is dedicated to presenting and preserving the contemporary traditions of the American West. Specific links to WFC can also be found in the TAPNet Documentation pages. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE

The New Hampshire Folklife website inlcudes educational resource for information on folklife & traditional arts in New Hampshire, the role of a folklorist, an interactive Learning Center, and a searchable database on recordings of traditional music. The New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Traditional Arts Program is described here and guidelines for Traditional Arts grants can be downloaded.

NEW JERSEY

The New Jersey Folklife Partners (NJFP) includes six folklife programs that each focus on a specific region of the state and three statewide programs. The NJFP strengthens the rich diversity of cultural expressions, encourages cross cultural understanding, and supports community traditions across the state

NEW YORK

The New York State Council on the Arts Folk Arts Program Guidelines are on-line and there are links to the staff.  The standard NYSCA application form is on the homepage.
New York Folklore Society. A statewide service organization that nurtures traditional arts and culture in New York State and fosters the sharing of folk traditions. This site includes samples of the NYFS quarterly newsletter, as well as information about membership, and their publications, programs and services, including their mentoring and technical assistance program for traditional artists and organizations. Application forms can printed from the site. More links to other New York, regional and national folklore and allied organizations are also found at this site
Click here for Local or Regional Folk Arts in New York. .

NORTH CAROLINA

The North Carolina Arts Council Folklife Program site has a description of the program, list of the North Carolina Folk  Heritage Award recipients 1989 to the present, as well as links to John C. Campbell Folk School, North Carolina Folklore Society, North Carolina Pottery, and Southern Folklife Collection (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill).  They also have featured documentaries: "Bawdy Ballads and Jack Tales,"  "Ghost Stories," "Medicine Shows," "Moonshine," and "National Hollerin' Contest."

The North Carolina Folklore Society Through its annual meeting, programs, awards, and publications, the NCFS encourages the study and preservation of local folklife and serves as a state folklife resource center. The Society also publishes a resource listing and calendar, both in its newsletter and as part of its website.

OREGON

The Oregon Folklife Program is a department of the Oregon Historical Society. Its mission is to document, present, and encourage the preservation of traditional arts and cultures in communities throughout Oregon.  "Masters of Ceremony" is Oregon Historical Society's first "virtual" exhibit -- "Guided by the experiences of Oregon's traditional communities and artists, journey through a series of pivotal life events: birth, coming of age, marriage, and death.

PENNSYLVANIA

The Institute for Cultural Partnerships promotes quality folk arts programs throughout Pennsylvania as a partner to the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA). ICP develops and administers PCA's statewide Folk & Traditional Arts Program, which supports traditions and practitioners that are part of a living tradition within a community. Through technical assistance, grants to individuals and organizations, services to the field, and discreet projects and initiatives, ICP supports high quality traditional arts programming and the conservation of the traditional arts and customs found in the Commonwealth. Click here for Local or Regional Folk Arts in Pennsylvania.

SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina Arts Commission Folklife and Traditional Arts Grant Guidelines can be downloaded from here.
South Carolina Arts Commission The South Carolina Traditional Arts Network (SCTAN), (site is temporarily offline) is organized for the purpose of identifying, preserving, presenting and advocating for the folklore, folklife, and traditional arts of South Carolina. SCTAN promotes the appreciation, study and preservation of our state's rich cultural heritages and traditional arts. SCTAN strives to encourage the continuation of local traditions and their documentation and analysis by folklorists and other researchers through publications, an annual meeting, awards, and traditional arts programming. SCTAN is committed to celebrating the diversity of our researchers through publications, an annual meeting, awards, and traditional arts programming. SCTAN is committed to celebrating the diversity of our state's cultural heritages and the contributions of traditional artists as well as their communities. Subscribe to their eGroup listserv here.  South Carolina's McKissick Museum site offers information on their Folklife Resource Center, Fall Folk Festival, and other events.

TEXAS

Texas Folklife Resources "is a private, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to celebrating and perpetuating the traditional arts and culture of the Lone Star State. We work directly with folk artists and communities to document living traditions and present them to the public through exhibitions, concerts, media projects and educational residencies. The folk arts not only testify to Texas's rich cultural diversity but also represent a cultural continuum: as part of our proud heritage and as a dynamic force in contemporary society. By recognizing and promoting the authentic artistic traditions passed down within communities, Texas Folklife Resources helps ensure that they live on."
Texas Art Commission is mostly links to TFR sites, but it is interesting in a way that is very hard to describe.  Go there and click on the log cabin.

UTAH

Utah Arts Council Folk Arts Program The Folk Arts Program of the Utah Arts Council is an agency of state government that presents public art events, administers grants, collects folk art, produces educational materials and provides technical assistance to individuals, groups and communities.

VERMONT

The Vermont Folklife Center, founded in 1984 is dedicated to preserving and presenting the folkarts and cultural traditions of Vermont and the surrounding region.  Through ongoing field research, a sound archive and an apprenticeship program, we document and conserve cultural heritage which could easily be lost; through exhibits, media, publication and educational projects, we bring recognition to the skills, talents and traditions of Vermonters, past and present.  The Center has made preservation of the spoken word the core of its endeavors, and the VFC archive now comprises over 3000 taped interviews, which have been transcribed and electronically indexed.

VIRGINIA

Virginia Folklife Program The Virginia Folklife Program was established in 1989 as part of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, with support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and major funding from the NEA Folk Arts Program & the Virginia Commission for the Arts -- a collaborative effort initiated by the Virginia Folklore Society.

The Virginia Folklore Society A non-profit, educational, membership organization dedicated to the discovery, collection, publication, and thus preservation, of folklore and traditional culture in Virginia.

WEST VIRGINIA

The Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia is dedicated to making traditional music, crafts, dancing and folklore available to visitors and residents alike. Apprenticeship learning, field research, and documentation of Appalachian folk artists and traditional folk culture are ongoing activities of the Augusta staff.

WASHINGTON

The Washington State Arts Commission Folk Art Program site is an excellent testimony of the work that a folklorist does.  It is full of features celebrating the folks that Willie Smythe is dedicated to serving.  Any state arts council should be proud to have such an impressive section on their web site.

WISCONSIN

Wisconsin Folks, an excellent comprehensive state folk arts program was launched on January 14, 2002. On the Wisconsin State Arts Board website you can also find a presentation about the 1998 Wisconsin Folk Festival, recent issues of The Folk Arts Educator publication, and a section for Down Home Dairyland radio program on Wisconsin Public Radio.

Another important web site is the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures.

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