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Missouri Folk Arts invites nominations for the 2026 Living Traditions Fellowships. These awards seek to recognize the excellence and lifetime achievement of living traditional artists and community scholars in the Show Me State.
Living Traditions Fellowships honor these individuals’ deep-rooted contributions to Missouri’s traditional arts and their vibrant communities. Nominations, per the guidelines linked below, are due via email by April 6, 2026.
Accessibility.
Missouri Folk Arts intends for the nomination process to be accessible to all. Please notify staff, ideally by March 16, 2026, for assistance per the American Disabilities Act or for issues organizing nomination materials.
Review.
Nominations and support materials will be reviewed by a panel of traditional arts and community specialists. Awardees will be notified in late April 2026.
Award.
Living Traditions Fellows will receive a hand-crafted plaque, as well as a stipend for a scope of work to include a public presentation and a recorded oral history–both to be coordinated in collaboration with Missouri Folk Arts.
Guidelines.
Nominators, please click the link highlighted below to download and print the guidelines. Alternately, send a request for a PDF via email to mofolkarts@missouri.edu.
Printable 2026 Living Traditions Fellowship Guidelines
History.
Living Traditions Fellowships are modeled on the National Heritage Fellowships presented by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). For Missouri’s Fellowships, we use the NEA’s definition of folk and traditional arts:
Rooted in and reflective of the cultural life of a community, folk and traditional arts are constantly evolving, shaped by values and standards of excellence passed from generation to generation, most often within family and community, through demonstration, conversation, and practice . . . activities are represented by a wide range of genres including music, dance, crafts, foodways, regalia/adornment, occupation, ceremony, and oral expression, such as stories, poetry, and language.
Previous Fellows:
2023: Kenny Applebee (Mexico) and Carmen Sofia Dence (St. Louis)
Support.
This project is made possible through funds awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Missouri Arts Council (MAC) with administrative support from the Museum of Art & Archaeology at the University of Missouri. Living Traditions Fellowship plaques, funded by individual donors, are custom crafted by Fresh Sawdust in Perryville, Mo.
The Living Traditions Fellowship project is contingent upon continuation of funds from both NEA and MAC.