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Exhibitions at The Research Libraries Living Legacy: Portraits of NEA National Heritage Fellows, 1982 - 2008, photographed by Tom PichFrom January 20, 2009 through April 4, 2009  Etta Baker, guitarist and 1991 National Heritage Fellow. Photograph by Tom Pich The National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowships, initiated in 1982, are the federal government's highest form of recognition of folk and traditional artists for their contributions to our nation's living cultural heritage. NEA heritage fellows are nominated by the public and a panel of experts convened by the agency reviews these nominations using the criteria of artistic excellence, significance within an artistic tradition, and contributions to cultural heritage. On display here are portraits by Tom Pich, who, since 1991, has visited and photographed the Fellows in their living rooms, workshops and community settings. In 2007, the NEA developed an exhibition of photographs to mark the 25th anniversary of the program. Those images have been augmented with photographs selected to represent fellows in the performing arts and in the New York metropolitan area for the display at the New York Public Library for the Perofrming Arts. They include singers, musicians, instrument makers, dancers, puppet artists, basket makers, and weavers from a world of traditions and cultures. |