Program Update on the Availability of Pennsylvania Creative Industries’ Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grants
Please see the following update.
As of Fiscal Year 2026-2027 (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027), funding available through Pennsylvania Creative Industries' Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeships program will discontinue statewide.
This information is being shared now to help with planning and budgetary activities going forward.
Background
Pennsylvania Creative Industries’ governing Council recently adopted a new strategic plan, alongside an updated agency mission to empower, connect, and amplify creatives and creative industries and their contributions to Pennsylvania’s communities, economy, and workforce. The agency vision is that Pennsylvania becomes the national leader among states for creative communities, talent, and industries.
To maximize progress on its mission and ensure its work aligns with this, Pennsylvania Creative Industries’ Council adopted five key areas around which to focus its resources: asset development, workforce development, community development, visibility, and policy.
Looking Ahead
Over the coming months, Pennsylvania Creative Industries will be publishing new and expanded opportunities for the Commonwealth’s creative sector. You can sign up for news here and access new program guidelines on Pennsylvania Creative Industries’ website.
Questions
- For question regarding current apprenticeship grants, contact your regional Folk and Traditional Arts partner organization (PDF).
- For general questions regarding the Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeships program, contact Amanda Lovell, PA Creative Industries’ Director of Access to the Creative Sector.
Overview
The PCA's Folk and Traditional Arts division funds apprenticeships, field work, and administration of this work by regional partner organizations around the commonwealth.
What are folk and traditional arts?
- Folk and Traditional Arts are artistic traditions characteristic of specific ethnic, religious, linguistic, occupational, or regional groups. These arts are shaped and shared within families, neighborhoods, and communities.
- They are passed down from one generation to another and learned through ongoing participation in community-based activities, and through observation, practice or apprenticeships with elders and masters rather than through classes, books or other means of institutional instruction.
Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeships
The PCA provides grants for Apprenticeships in Folk and Traditional Arts. Apprenticeships support the learning of traditional arts within cultural communities across Pennsylvania. Each apprenticeship grant provides funding to a partnership between a master traditional artist and a qualified apprentice, enabling them to work together to share and develop advanced techniques or repertoire. Apprenticeships in Traditional Arts grants are offered annually in both performing or craft traditions.
Our Folk and Traditional Arts regional partners (PDF) can answer questions about the program, provide assistance with completing apprenticeship grant applications and with preparation of work samples.
About the Folk and Traditional Arts Partners
The goals of the PCA's Folk and Traditional Arts partners are responsible for investigating, documenting, presenting, sustaining, and promoting Pennsylvania's folk and traditional arts. in order to celebrate and sustain our commonwealth's diverse heritage.
This Folk and Traditional Arts partners include local and regional organizations around PA that specialize in, or include, a focus on folk and traditional arts.
Folk and Traditional Arts partner organizations collectively serve 49 counties by:
- Promoting creation and documentation of folk art;
- Engaging the public in understanding the quality, breadth, and diversity of folk and traditional arts across Pennsylvania;
- Conducting critical discovery fieldwork in under-represented communities; and
- Providing technical assistance for folk and traditional artists through workshops and gatherings.