Great Grandma Mary Lyons (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe) with 3 generations of her daughters and granddaughters. Photo by Ruth Bazhnibah Kawano
National Folklife Network
The National Folklife Network (NFN) is an initiative to build the capacity of cultural heritage organizations, strengthen folk & traditional arts infrastructure, and foster a thriving ecosystem for the field. The scope of NFN includes seven initial regions identified through a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) portfolio analysis, which uncovered gaps in the national ecosystem of folk and traditional arts.
The National Folklife Network aims to:
Uplift the practice of heritage artists, community knowledge-keepers, cultural organizers, and advocates for places and ways of life in seven designated areas across the United States.
Connect artists and a wide range of narrators of place, cultural assets, and identity in these regions to tools and resources like funding, training, and regional and national support systems.
Nurture ideas and initiatives that help strengthen and sustain the traditional arts across sectors through documentation, collaboration, and learning exchanges.
The National Folklife Network is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with the Southwest Folklife Alliance and in collaboration with the Alliance for California Traditional Arts and the First People’s Fund.
Contact us: NationalFolklifeTeam@gmail.com
