Master Artists/Master Teachers
Master Artists, Master Teachers: The Most Prolific Participants in the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program
In this online exhibition, the Missouri Folk Arts Program celebrates the traditional master artists who have participated 5 or more times in the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program.
Since 1984, the Missouri Folk Arts Program has fostered hundreds of apprenticeships between master traditional artists and their apprentices. More than five hundred individual traditional artists, many in underserved rural, inner city, and ethnic communities in every corner of the state, have participated in the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program.
As of 2012, nineteen traditional artists had participated five or more times in the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. This exhibit honors those master artists who have worked tirelessly to pass their art form to their apprentices, their communities, and the state of Missouri.
Online exhibition curated by student workers Darcy Holtgrave and Claire Schmidt
Edna Mae Davis
Any conversation about the notable music tradition of Ava, Missouri is incomplete without mention of Edna Mae Davis, square dance caller and dancer. In an application for the TAAP program, she listed her occupations as…
Martin J. Bergin
In his 1986 application to the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, Martin Bergin wrote, “The highest honor I have received or could ever receive is the acceptance and recognition of my saddles by my peers and…
Bob Holt
b. 1930 d. 2004 Ava, Missouri Ozark Fiddling Apprentices: 1988 Venae Heier 1989 Venae Heier 1990 Emily Longworth 1992 Hannah Dowden 1993 Mike Fraser 1994 Mike Fraser 1998 Liz Amos 1999 Liz Amos 2000 Travis…
Pete McMahan
Pete (Preston) McMahan was born near Bluffton, Missouri. Throughout his life, he worked in tire sales and service; he was a veteran of World War II. Mr. McMahan became interested in playing the fiddle at…
Vesta Johnson
Vesta Johnson describes fiddling as “excellent therapy.” A fourth-generation musician, Mrs. Johnson is a member and co-founder of the Missouri Fiddlers and Country Music Association. “I started playing fiddle at age seven. I learned from…