:: 2009 NEA National Heritage Fellows

The Birmingham Sunlights A cappella Gospel group Birmingham, AL	Edwin Colón Zayas Cuatro Player Aguadilla, PR	Chitresh Das Kathak Dancer and Choreographer San Francisco, CA
LeRoy Graber Willow Basketmaker Freeman, SD	"Queen" Ida Guillory Zydeco Musician Daly City, CA	Dudley Laufman Dance Caller and Musician Canterbury, NH
Amma D. McKen Yoruba Orisha Singer Queens, NY	Joel Nelson Cowboy Poet Alpine, TX	Teri Rofkar Tlingit Weaver and Basketmaker Sitka, AK
Mike Seeger Musician, Cultural Scholar, and Advocate Lexington, VA	Sophiline Cheam Shapiro Cambodian Classical Dancer and Choreographer Long Beach, CA

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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