National Heritage Fellowships
Please see the calendar page for more information on the National Heritage Fellowship Concert, held on Thursday, September 20, 2007 at the Music Center at Strathmore.
The National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship is the highest honor that our nation bestows upon its folk and traditional artists. Each year, ten to thirteen individuals, “national living treasures” from across the nation, are chosen to receive this one-time-only Fellowship in recognition of lifetime achievement, artistic excellence and contributions to our nation’s cultural heritage.
Bess Lomax Hawes, first director of NEA’s Folk & Traditional Arts Program, created the National Heritage Fellowships in 1982. To date, 315 master artists have been honored. National Heritage Fellowships are awarded on an annual basis. Recipients are announced in early summer; the Fellowship award ceremonies and other activities take place the following fall.
For over 20 years, the NCTA has worked with the National Endowment for the Arts on a consulting basis to manage and coordinate the annual week of activities in Washington, D.C. honoring Fellowship recipients. These include a Capitol Hill award ceremony, a banquet in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress and a culminating gala public concert featuring the Fellowship awardees produced by the NCTA.
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The NEA National Heritage Fellowship program, celebrating its 25th
anniversary in 2007-08, is an initiative of the National Endowment for the
Arts presented with support from the Darden Restaurants Foundation and the
Darden family of restaurants including Red Lobster and Olive Garden.
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