Recommendation Form - 2026 Community Folklife Fellowship

Recommender Form for 2026 Community Folklife Fellowship Applications

Definitions
Texas Folklife Community Folklife Fellowship - Glossary

Culture Bearer

Culture bearers and folk arts practitioners are deeply rooted in the practice and preservation of cultural traditions through craft, storytelling, dance, performance, visual arts, language preservation, foodways, and more. Cultural identities may include geographic communities, occupational groups, or family traditions. Folk arts and culture bearer practices are often connected to cultural communities and prioritize sharing knowledge with the next generation. Some of the titles they may use are culture bearer, folk artist, taproot artist, traditional artist, elder artist, and ancestral knowledge bearer. Source: Arts Midwest

Folk and Traditional Arts

The folk and traditional arts are rooted in and reflective of the cultural life of a community. Community members may share a common ethnic heritage, cultural mores, language, religion, occupation, or geographic region. These vital and constantly reinvigorated artistic traditions are shaped by values and standards of excellence that are passed from generation to generation, most often within family and community, through demonstration, conversation, and practice. Source: National Endowment for the Arts

Folklife

Folklife is the living traditions currently practiced and passed along by word of mouth, imitation, or observation over time and space within groups, such as family, ethnic, social class, regional, and others. Everyone and every group has folklore. Source: Louisiana Folklife

Folklore

Folklore is the study of human creativity within specific cultural and social contexts. Folklorists use ethnographic methods to study tradition. Folklorists study material culture, festivity, music, narratives, verbal art, rituals, foodways, and other expressive forms. Source: George Mason University

Folklorist

Folklorists focus on the study of human creativity within specific cultural and social contexts, including how such expressions (i.e. stories, music, material culture and festivals) are linked to various forms of group identity. Source: University of Illinois

Contact Information
Name*

First NameLast Name
Email*
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Phone Number*
Please enter a valid phone number.
Applicant for whom you are writing a recommendation*
I will be submitting my recommendation as (Choose only 1)

Option 1 - Form responseOption 2 - Letter of recommendationOption 3 - Video/Audio response
Based on your response above, please scroll down to the appropriate section below.

OPTION 1 - Form Response
Relationship to applicant
Please describe the applicant's experience documenting community folklife, and/or oral history, digital storytelling.
Please describe the applicant's potential as a folklorist and why they would benefit from this program

OPTION 2 - Upload a Letter of Recommendation
You may upload a letter of recommendation which speaks to the following questions:
- Relationship to applicant
- Please describe the applicant's experience documenting community folklife, and/or oral history, digital storytelling.
- Please describe the applicant's potential as a folklorist and why they would benefit from this program
File Upload

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OPTION 3 - Video or Audio Response
You may upload an audiovisual response which speaks to the following questions:
- Relationship to applicant
- Please describe the applicant's experience documenting community folklife, and/or oral history, digital storytelling.
- Please describe the applicant's potential as a folklorist and why they would benefit from this program
File Upload

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Link to video or audio
Should be Empty:

Recommender Form for 2026 Community Folklife Fellowship Applications