Message from the Chair

ON BEHALF of the National Endowment for the Arts, I am delighted to congratulate the 2022 National Heritage Fellows, recipients of the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. These honorees are not only sustaining the cultural history of their art form and of their community, they are also enriching our nation as a whole.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Heritage Fellowships. Each year since 1982, the NEA has honored the important and dynamic role of culture bearers in sharing their art forms, traditions, languages, and histories, while adapting to changing times and circumstances, and passing cultural treasures on to the next generation. We see this in 2022 through the ways master weaver TahNibaa Naataanii mentors, teaches, and interprets the Diné weaving practice, and through the quelbe melodies of Stanley Jacobs which celebrate both old and new traditions of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The heritage we celebrate through the fellowships is a beautiful dimension of our American cultural life, and it is also an important part of advancing equity. Many of our fellows come from historically marginalized communities where arts and cultural practices provide evidence of strength and resilience, are important outlets for freedom of expression, and are core to continued progress. The Excelsior Band is a great example of this. From its founding in 1883, the band remained a solid fortress through the long Jim Crow era in Mobile, Alabama, and is still marching proudly in Mardi Gras parades today. In Hawai’i, foundations for the future are being built by the strong hands of master Hawaiian hale builder, Francis P. Sinenci, who is responsible for many new architectural structures created in the traditional way and is passing this skill to the next generation.

As we emerge from a historic pandemic and significant social challenges, this year’s class of fellows reminds us that even in times of turmoil and unpredictability, our nation’s living heritage never stops being taught and treasured. The artistic contributions of our National Heritage Fellows help us celebrate our diversity while bringing people together, and helping us see our unique gifts and our common humanity.

Photo by David K. Riddick

It is my honor and pleasure to host the film, Roots of American Culture: A Cross-Country Visit with Living Treasures of the Folk and Traditional Arts, featuring the 2022 honorees in the places where they live and practice their art, providing us with a window into their cultural traditions. I’m happy to be part of telling this story. I believe the future is illuminated by these trailblazers, and we will celebrate this milestone with them for years to come!

Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD Chair National Endowment for the Arts