About Taproot

Empowering traditional artists to strengthen community and drive social change

Willard John and the Guardians of Culture Moko Jumbie Academy. Photo by Misty Winter.

The Taproot Fellowship

A project of the Taproot Artists & Community Trust from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, the Taproot Fellowship provides an unprecedented opportunity to offer catalytic support and recognition for accomplished traditional artists and culture bearers across the Unites States and Territories.

Carolyn Mazloomi at work on a quilt. Photo by Rezvan Mazloomi

“To be considered for the Taproot Fellowship means that I am continuing the work that those elders entrusted me to do and truly believing in myself the way they believed in me.”

Adrienne Benjamin | Amikogaabawiikwe, Anishinaabe jingle dress maker from Chiminising, Misizaagaiganing (Minnesota)

This year and next, a total of 50 Fellowships of $50,000 each will be made, along with tailored services designed to strengthen community-based systems of cultural transmission and grassroots health and well-being. Each Fellow will receive an additional $10,000 for community-focused projects, totaling a $60,000 investment per artist. This comprehensive support will positively influence local arts ecosystems nationwide through direct funding, sustainability efforts, and increased visibility for traditional artists.

Taproot Artists & Community Trust

The Taproot Artists & Community Trust is an initiative dedicated to honoring and uplifting accomplished US-based traditional artists who serve as community leaders and catalysts for social change. Funded by the Mellon Foundation, the Alliance of California Traditional Arts’ groundbreaking program recognizes the profound impact that traditional arts and cultural transmission have on the health and well-being of local communities across the nation.

By harnessing generational and ancestral knowledge, the Taproot Artists & Community Trust aims to nurture the unique value of every culture, fostering an integrated, just, and empathetic social fabric. The program’s three key strategies—visibility, sustainability, and direct support—ensure that traditional artists can thrive and continue to serve as pillars of their communities, advancing a national dialogue about the crucial role of grassroots arts and cultural knowledge in community health and wellness.

Annual Celebration and get-together of Passamaquoddy community members with dancing, drumming, and singing in Split Rock. Photo courtesy of Dr. Dwayne Tomah.

The Taproot Framework

Direct Support

Each grantee will receive $50,000 in unrestricted funding, along with an additional $10,000 for community-focused projects, totaling a $60,000 investment.

Sustainability

Fellows can participate in a cohort to increase opportunities and foster a learning environment tailored to their needs. This includes custom services grounded in cultural context and multiple opportunities for the artists to share and learn from one another, as well as experts in the field.

Visibility

We will uplift the stories and impacts of traditional artists, elevating their visibility and advancing a national dialogue about the crucial role of grassroots arts and cultural knowledge in community health and wellness.

Tending the Taproot

The Taproot Fellowship grew out of ACTA’s landmark 2022 report, Tending the Taproot: Opportunities to Support Folk & Traditional Arts in the United States, authored by Amy Kitchener, Shweta Saraswat-Sullivan, Ph.D., and Lily Kharrazi. This report highlights the essential role of traditional artists in enriching their communities and how their cultural heritage has been challenged by historical and systemic injustices. Amid global crises, traditional arts practices are potent acts of social belonging and justice. Tending the Taproot calls for national, regional, local, and philanthropic support to invest in traditional arts. It identifies significant underinvestment in this sector and recommends increased funding, visibility, and infrastructure support. Key recommendations include providing sustained fellowships, enhancing cultural organization funding, implementing a national communications strategy, and improving data collection to elevate the field’s impact.

A street festival put on by Pedro Adorno Irizarry and Agua, Sol y Sereno in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico. Photo by Ricardo Alcaraz.

Frequently Asked Questions

Culture bearers or traditional artists are people who carry and transmit cultural values, traits, and practices between and within communities, often serving as leaders in promoting their community’s identity, cultural practice, and wellbeing. Culture bearers and traditional artists may identify by other cultural terms used in the community – such as basketmaker, jaranero, kumu hula, etc.

We invite a closed list of nominators to submit nominations for potential Taproot Fellows who carry and transmit cultural values, traits, and practices between and within communities, often serving as leaders in promoting their community’s identity, cultural practice, and well-being. Nominees must live within the United States and its Territories. Each nominee is invited to apply, and the simple application process (which asks only for work samples and to answer 4 straightforward questions) is evaluated by a national panel of traditional arts and culture specialists and artist-practitioners. The Board of Directors of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts will approve the recommended Fellowship grants.

We awarded 25 Fellowships in 2024, and anticipate awarding another 25 in 2025.

About the Alliance for California Traditional Arts

The Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) is dedicated to promoting and supporting traditional arts and cultural heritage in California and beyond. ACTA empowers artists and communities by providing funding, resources, and advocacy to ensure the preservation and growth of diverse cultural traditions. Through various programs, ACTA fosters a culturally rich and equitable society, where the unique value of every culture is respected and celebrated. ACTA’s commitment to these values led to the creation of the Taproot Artists & Community Trust, which supports traditional artists across the country as community leaders and agents of social change.

Our Funding Partner

The Taproot Artist & Community Trust is generously supported by the Mellon Foundation.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.

Have questions?

We’re here to help—reach out with any inquiries, big or small!

Email Us

Have questions?

Email Us

Dani Tippman harvesting elm bark. Photo by Jon Kay.

We’re here to help—reach out with any inquiries, big or small!