National Endowment for the Arts  
Lifetime Honors
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:: 1984 NEA National Heritage Fellows


Clifton Chenier
Creole Accordionist
Lafayette, LA
 


Bertha Cook
Knotted Bedspread Maker
Boone, NC
 


Joseph Cormier
Cape Breton Violinist
Waltham, MA
 


Elizabeth Cotten
African-American Songster/Songwriter
Syracuse, NY
 


Burlon Craig
Potter
Vale, NC
 


Albert Fahlbusch
Hammered Dulcimer Maker/Player
Scottsbluff, NE
 


Janie Hunter
African-American Singer/Storyteller
Johns Island, SC
 


Mary Jane Manigault
African-American Seagrass Basket Maker
Mt. Pleasant, SC
 


Genevieve Mougin
Lebanese-American Lace Maker
Bettendorf, IA
 


Martin Mulvihill
Irish-American Fiddler
Bronx, NY
 


Howard "Sandman" Sims
African-American Tap Dancer
New York, NY
 


Ralph Stanley
Appalachian Banjo Player/Singer
Coeburn, VA
 


Margaret Tafoya
Santa Clara Pueblo Potter
Espanola, NM
 


Dave Tarras
Klezmer Clarinetist
Brooklyn, NY
 


Paul Tiulana
Eskimo Maskmaker/Dancer/Singer
Anchorage, AK
 


Cleofes Vigil
Hispanic Storyteller/Singer
San Cristobal, NM
 


Emily Kau'i Zuttermeister
Hula Master
Kaneohe, HI
 

 

NEA National Heritage Fellowships Banner

In 1982 the National Endowment for the Arts established the NEA National Heritage Awards as a way of honoring American folk artists for their contributions to our national cultural mosaic. Modelled after the Japanese "National Living Treasures" concept, the idea began with Bess Lomax Hawes, then director of the Folk Arts Program.

Profile materials for 1982-2007 courtesy of Documentary Arts. Use of some photographs courtesy of the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives & Collections

Contact Liz Auclair in the NEA’s Public Affairs office at auclaire@arts.gov for high-resolution images of the 2013 Fellows for press purposes.

NEA Heritage Fellows
1982-Present: 
BY YEAR | ALPHA

 

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