Willard John performs in the Moko Jumbie tradition. Photo by Steve Simonsen.
Traditional artists are powerful community leaders and changemakers who catalyze social change and connection.
The Taproot Fellowship offers unprecedented support and recognition for traditional artists and culture bearers across the United States and Territories. In 2024 and 2025, a total of 50 artists will each receive a $50,000 unrestricted grant, plus an additional $10,000 to allocate toward projects within their community, totaling a $60,000 investment per artist.
Featured Stories & Fellows
“Being selected as a Taproot Fellowship artist is an honor because it recognizes the deep roots of our traditions. Basket making is more than a craft, it carries our history, our connection to the land, and the knowledge passed down through generations. ”
Lydia “Louise” Goings (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians)
Cherokee Basket Maker /
Birdtown Community on the Qualla Boundary (Cherokee, NC)
“Learning and teaching Khmer music has always been a part of my family from generation to generation. Being a Taproot artist will help me continue my love of Khmer music by preserving and educating, not only through my legacy, but through my community, which will pass my musical knowledge to future generations and foster opportunities to build on that knowledge.”
Chum Ngek
Cambodian Musician & Ritual Artist /
Gaithersburg, MD
“The arts are a powerful tool for collective action and well-being. How does our artistry contribute, and where might we grow?”
Brett Ratliff
Traditional Appalachian Musician /
Stamping Ground, KY
Explore Taproot Fellows
Delores Taitano Quinata
Bilembaotuyan Maker & Player
Hagatna, Guam
Lydia “Louise” Goings (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians)
Cherokee Basket Maker
Birdtown Community on the Qualla Boundary (Cherokee, NC)
David Comingdeer (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma)
Cherokee Ball Stick Maker
Flint District of the Cherokee Nation (Stilwell, OK)
TJ Sgwaayaans Young (Kaigani Haida)
Haida Wood Carver
Hydaburg, AK
Van-Anh Vanessa Vo
Vietnamese Traditional Musician & Composer
El Cerrito, CA
Reba Jo Teran (Eastern Shoshone)
Traditional Shoshone Saddle Maker & Bead Worker
Fort Washakie, WY
Raymond Wong
Traditional Chinese Lion Dancer & Martial Artist
Chinatown, Washington, DC
Ramón Rivera
Mariachi Musician & Educator
Mount Vernon, WA
Omar Santiago Fuentes
Puerto Rican Troubadour, Improviser of Verse & Décimas
Hatillo, Puerto Rico
Manuel A Delgado
Old-World Luthier
Nashville, TN
Lani Strong Hotch (Chilkat-Tlingit)
Chilkat/Ravenstail Weaver & Textile Artist
Klukwan, AK
Kewulay Kamara
Mandeng Finah Poet & Storyteller
Jackson Heights, NY
Empower Artists & Communities: Give Today
A community performance of Japanese taiko. Photo by Mark Shigenaga.
Your tax-deductible donation supports Taproot Fellows through our parent organization, Alliance for California Traditional Arts.