Meklit Hadero performing at at The Helsinki Festival. Photo by Petri Antilla.
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
Van-Anh Vanessa Vo
Vietnamese Traditional Musician & Composer
El Cerrito, CA
Stan Rodriguez
Kumeyaay Culture Bearer
Santa Ysabel, CA
Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto
Japanese Koto Musician
Oakland, CA
Roy & PJ Hirabayashi
Japanese American Taiko Musicians
San Jose, CA
Ofelia Esparza & Rosanna Esparza Ahrens
Chicana Altaristas
East Los Angeles, CA
Meklit Hadero
Ethio-Jazz Vocalist & Composer
San Francisco, CA
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.