On December 27, 2024, the Southwest Folklife Alliance announced the 2024 recipients of their Master-Apprentice Artist Award. Each artist will work with an apprentice as a way to pass down traditional knowledge of their respective artform.
SFA’s annual Master-Apprentice Artist award offers direct support to traditional artists living in Arizona to pass on art, culture, and heritage practices to apprentice learners. The recipients are nominated by community members and selected by a panel of cultural leaders and peers. SFA assists nominees and applicants during the application process, to ensure an equitable and competitive process.
The award provides $5,000 each to Arizona-based artist/tradition bearer and $500 to an emerging-artist mentee to support the transmission of traditional knowledge for one year. The first award program of its kind in Arizona, it joins over 20 similar award programs across the nation and affirms the organization’s commitment to individual heritage-based artists, economic development, and the transmission of cultural knowledge. Since 2015, the program has provided awards to nearly 90 master artists.
Congratulations to the awardees:
- Jessica Lomatewama, a Hopi basket weaver in the traditional Third Mesa style or “Yungpyapu,” using rabbit brush and dune bloom. She will work with her daughter, Stephanie Marie Lomatewama-Kayquoptewa.
- Marilyn Hume, a White Mountain Apache basket maker, who will mentor her grandson, Michael Benito.
- Mylyle Ethelbah, a maker of traditional White Mountain Apache traditional buckskin used in the Sunrise Ceremony, a coming-of-age initiation for girls. She will mentor Jayda Alchesay.
- Richard Montague, a potter and culture bearer for his tribe, the Kwat’saan tribe of Ft. Yuma, Arizona. His apprentice is niece Cornelia Ann Montague.boy. His apprentice is niece Cornelia Ann Montague.
- Nālani Kaho’onei, a native Hawaiian kumu hula (master dance teacher), will work with her son, Kainoa Kaho’onei.
- Tanya Dimitrov, a Bulgarian folk dancer, who will work with apprentice Megan Vesellinova.
- J. Edson “House” Magaña, a hip-hop artist who works to empower young people in Phoenix toward greater visibility. His apprentice is Ruby Morales.
- Misael Barraza Diaz, a Tucson-based Flamenco guitarist, who will mentor Tofan Rofati.
- Royce Murray, a Phoenix-based master of the Hammond organ, used in many genres of Black music: Gospel, the blues, R&B, and jazz. His apprentice is Dominique Holley.
- Sewa Yuli, an ancestral foods cook and advocate who uses culinary medicine to promote healing, connection to tradition, and health. Her apprentice is Paloma Martinez.
Read more about the 2024 awardees here.
Nominations for Master-Apprentice Artist Award open spring 2025.
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