On its twentieth anniversary, this article looks back at Missouri's Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. It tells the story of the program's creation, as well as some highlights of its first two decades. Pictures of some of the program...

The Missouri Folk Arts Program (MFAP) is dedicated to building cross-cultural understanding of Missouri's folk arts by documenting, conserving and presenting Missouri's living folk arts and folk life. The most obvious manifestation of our mission...

of folklore at MU offers a truly interdisciplinary experience, including the opportunity to intern with the Missouri Folk Arts Program (MFAP)....

The role of folklorists who work in the public sector often involves far more administrative duties than fieldwork opportunities—more working with paper than working with people. Recently, the dedication and patience of the Folk Arts staff has been...

of two master folk artists who were selected to participate in Missouri's Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in 1996-7: Marilyn Loehning, an accordionist from Hermann, and Christa Robbins, a bobbin lacemaker from Dixon. Their stories highlight...

Gigging - the practice of using a steel object in the shape of a large fork to impale fish - has long been a popular traditional activity in the Missouri Ozarks. Many natives of the area consider gigging to be their sport, despite several attempts...

Despite their relatively small population, Hawaiians in Missouri have a high visibility because of their interest in teaching and performing their distinctive folk arts. This essay focuses on hula dance and lei-making, beginning with a look back...

's Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, among them master Patrick Gannon, Helen Gannon, Niall Gannon, Larry McNally, and apprentices Gregory Krone and Eileen Gannon. This essay is based in large part on interviews with these talented and dedicated traditional...

In Missouri, we are fortunate to have a strong network of professional folklorists that we rely upon to serve on panels, to conduct evaluations and to advise us with new projects. Dr. Wolford, who earned his PhD in Folklore ...

Mexico,” Heriberto (Beto) Lopez, Sr., is currently a master artist for Missouri's Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, tutoring apprentice Antonio Sierra, Jr. in the art of mariachi trumpet playing....

The Missouri Folk Arts Program (MFAP) has produced educational projects for school children for several years, from traveling exhibitions to school performances. The most long-lasting project is “Tuesdays at the Capitol.” ...

When people think about “traditional arts,” people don't tend to think “technology.” Some would even say there is a tension between the two. However, the number of people who turn to the internet to learn more about the ...

This essay emerged from the Bootheel Underserved Arts Communities Project, which was co-sponsored by the Missouri Arts Council, the Missouri Folk Arts Program, and the State Historical Society of Missouri at the University of Missouri...

Americans have had to rely largely on their shared oral traditions to reconstruct their cultural past. One of the foremost traditional African American narrators in Missouri today is Gladys A. Coggswell, a master storyteller in the Traditional Arts...

Missouri Folk Arts Program (MFAP) staff members are relieved, and excited, to have wrapped up the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (TAAP). Over the course of the last fiscal year, ...

This essay looks at three aspects of wooden johnboats. The first section tracks their history from their roots in Colonial Missouri through the present day of 1991. Johnboats were used during the period of railroad construction. They have been...

Mrs. Gladys A. Coggswell, a master traditional artist in African-American storytelling from Frankford, MO., will be the recipient of the 2005 Missouri Arts Award in the Individual Artist category. This prestigious award is the state's highest honor...

In October, St. Louis artist Carmen Dence brought the famous Latin carnival of her hometown, Barranquilla, Colombia, to Glenwood R-VIII Elementary School, just a few miles outside West Plains in southern Missouri. Dence ...

One of the most integral art forms central to musical expression is the visual and aural art of luthiery—a term which refers to the intricate craft, repair and restoration of stringed instruments. In May 2007, the Missouri ...