Mass Cultural Council is proud to support artists, culture bearers, and creative practitioners with our Grants for Creative Individuals (apply by October 28, 2025).
For this program, applicants can receive a “Funding Priority” (or a modest increase to their score during the review process) for being a “traditional artist or culture bearer”. The Traditional Artist Funding Priority acknowledges the special challenges, sacrifices, and commitment of carrying on a traditional art form. Realistically, only a small number of artists will meet our definition of traditional artist or culture bearer. If you believe your creative practice does meet our definition, this article will offer some tips on how best to convey this in your Grants for Creative Individuals application.
What is our definition of a “traditional artist or culture bearer”?
We define a “traditional artist or culture bearer” as an individual whose creative/artistic practice sustains a living tradition within a specific community and is reflective of that community’s aesthetics, practices, values and/or beliefs. Their community may be defined by ethnic, geographic, tribal, spiritual, or trade/craft-based heritage. Commonly (but not always) traditional arts are learned orally or by observation, passed down from generation to generation, rather than in an institutional or academic setting. Often, a traditional artist or culture bearer apprentices with a mentor artist or community elders who pass on traditional skills that might otherwise be lost. Their tradition and cultural heritage is apparent in both their training and in the work itself, with culturally-specific materials, forms, styles, and/or expression.
How do I verify that I meet the Traditional Artist Funding Priority?
To verify this funding priority, you will be asked to review our definition of “traditional artist or culture bearer” and if you feel that you meet the criteria, there are a few additional questions to answer in the “Prioritization Factors” section of the application. You may either respond as a traditional artist (speaking about your personal/individual practice) or as a traditional artist currently in or planning a one-on-one apprenticeship with another Massachusetts artist. You can find more information about the questions that are asked for this Funding Prioritization in our FAQ’s. Because apprenticeships are so integral to the process of cultural preservation and the continuation of traditional arts, traditional artists or culture bearers who verify their practice with an apprenticeship will receive a modestly higher priority than those who verify by writing about their individual practice in the traditional arts. If you plan to respond to the Traditional Artist Funding Priority questions, we strongly recommend reaching out in advance to Summer Confuorto, Traditional Arts Program Officer, to discuss your traditional practice(s).
What are some tips for responding to the Traditional Artist Funding Priority questions? Do you have examples of artists who have received this priority?
It is important to be concise in your responses, which should also align with and support what you mentioned in your Artist Narrative and submitted in your work samples. Be sure to weave a description of your traditional practice throughout your entire application, not just in the Funding Priority questions. Reviewers should see clear references to your practice in your Artist Narrative, your work samples, and your Traditional Artist Funding Priority responses. This consistency helps paint a full picture of your role as a traditional artist or culture bearer and strengthens your overall application.
Additionally, your answers should demonstrate that you have a clear understanding of what it means to be a traditional artist or culture bearer in response to our definition and should also reflect your dedication to your art form or creative practice and the significance that it has for you as well as your community.
Culture bearers and traditional artists generally practice their traditional art form for many years, often seeing themselves as stewards of their traditions, and taking great care to pass their skills and knowledge on from generation to generation. We want to hear about how your work contributes to the preservation of your traditional art form. If you are applying as a mentor or apprentice artist in an apprenticeship, why do you want to work with this person and what specific skills or techniques do you hope to teach or learn from them?
Lastly, when applying, remember that your work samples are an important part of your application, as they give reviewers a direct window into your traditional art form or practice. Strong samples should clearly reflect the traditions you are rooted in and demonstrate the art forms you wrote or spoke about in the other parts of your application. If you also work in contemporary or non-traditional forms, that’s wonderful, but be sure to include work samples that highlight your traditional practice, since that is the focus of this particular Funding Priority. Thoughtful, representative samples help reviewers better understand the depth, authenticity, and significance of your work.
An example from one of our FY24 Grants for Creative Individuals grantees is NaDaizja Bolling, an Aquinnah Wampanoag artist who practices the traditional Wampanoag art forms of deerskin regalia making, twined sash, strap and ties making and twined basketry and bag making. In her responses she explained how she learned through family members and elders in her tribal community over the years, with a specific intention to learn all the traditional skills and art forms thoroughly; from harvesting natural materials, processing them, preparing them, to the actual methods and techniques of the artistry in the ways that her community has practiced and passed down over generations. The importance of the traditions to her community are clear and she communicates the significance of not only the process, but the cultural context behind the skills that she is learning, “I learn about the origins of techniques that I use and the stories that my teachers have willingly shared as we bond while transferring this cultural wisdom.” Another grantee in the traditional arts is Rebecca MacInnes, who specializes in Klezmer music, describing it as the traditional music of her cultural heritage. In her response to the Funding Priority questions, she explained how she has been actively practicing Klezmer music for over seven years and learned as an apprentice, naming her mentor artists she has worked with throughout the years. She discussed the importance of engaging with Jewish communities that the music represents and how she is deeply committed to the dissemination of it to a wider audience. In addition to cultivating the preservation and continuation of Klezmer music through performance and education, she composes and performs new melodies in Klezmer that, while newly written, are deeply rooted in the folk tradition.
Other examples include, but are not limited to Uyghur calligraphy, Northeastern Native wampum-carving, bespoke custom boot making, Tibetan music and dance, Russian iconography, taxidermy, New England sea chanteys, Puerto Rican santos and musical instrument making and traditional cordwaining. Traditional artists or culture bearers may have previously applied for our Traditional Arts Apprenticeships or the Artist Fellowships in Traditional Arts. You can get a strong sense of the work of culture bearers and traditional artists by watching some of the videos in the Keepers of Tradition playlist on Mass Cultural Council’s YouTube channel.
If you have any questions regarding the Traditional Arts Funding Priority or plan to respond to the Traditional Arts Funding Priority questions, we strongly recommend reaching out to Summer Confuorto, Program Officer, Traditional Arts, 617-858-2713.
Image and media: Aquinnah-based traditional artist and Director of the Aquinnah Cultural Center, NaDaizja Bolling, Grantee ’24, photo by Lauren Miller; video of Klezmer musician, Rebecca MacInnes, Grantee ’24, performing as a part of Boston-based Klezmer ensemble, Mamaliga.
Susan says
This is an excellent resource for artists rooted in traditional practices no matter how niche or deeply cultural for whom grant applications might otherwise feel like a mismatch. It recognizes the value of cultural continuity, craftsmanship, and community heritage, and helps bridge that into the funding world without forcing you to compromise your identity as a culture bearer. A warm compliment to the authors.