Folklife Resources
Table of Contents
From the Heart and Hand
Introduction:
From the Heart and Hand contains descriptions of thirty Montana Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Awards distributed from 1992 to 1996. These reports were originally published in booklet form under the same title in 2001. Though some of the masters documented here are now no longer living, we believe that this information about Montana's vibrant art forms and artists is worthy of preservation. We are proud to present this edition of the publication, slightly modified for the web.
Folk Art is Beauty with a History
The words "folk artist" often bring to mind someone like Grandma Moses, who learned to paint without any formal training. But traditional or folk art refers not so much to personal expression by an individual, as to the kind of knowledge and techniques developed and passed on within groups of people who have something in common—either ethnicity, occupation, or the region they live in. Hmong or Norwegian embroidery bears the stamp of a long-shared experience which is unmistakable to people who are familiar with the designs of that culture.A floral design on a Guatemalan huipil (woman's blouse) is very distinct from that on an Ojibwe dress. There is a time dimension that can be felt or sensed in these forms, it resonates with the many peoples who have valued this unique way of making beauty.
Folk Art Expresses the Identity of a People
Artistic traditions like geometric and floral patterns are most often passed down to the next generation with very little alteration in the design. Individual artists may make subtle changes in their work, but they are also often aware that these designs are one of the ways their community defines itself, and they want to help preserve this community identity for the future. Many folk artists don't even call themselves artists; they just do something they learned from their elders: embroidery, playing fiddle tunes, making saddles or spurs. They do it from keen interest, sometimes from necessity, and because they are who they are. Sometimes folk art springs from the requirements of making a living or the character of the places where people live. But as with all aspects of living, within these groups there are people who strive to excel as artists, and though they may not call what they do "art," they are usually known for the excellence of the their work.
The Montana Arts Council Folklife Program
The Montana Arts Council's Folklife Program is part of a long-range strategy to identify, document, reinforce and present the traditional arts made in the Big Sky. Why do we have to encourage these kinds of arts if they flourish naturally in life? Well, they don't necessarily flourish anymore. With the internet and television competing for our attention, these arts are not automatically passed on anymore. Sometimes too, they are seen as being of lesser value than the fine arts, in the same way that the "crafts" are sometimes devalued, and their genius and the excellence required to achieve good results is overlooked.
But folk arts and folklife programs are a kind of cultural democracy. They recognize that America is still a nation of great pluralism, encompassing many cultures each of which has very developed forms of expression. It also recognizes the layers of group migrations that have brought people to this place. Now living in Montana there are Indian tribes whose ancestors have lived here for thousands of years together with the descendants of European American immigrants, most of whom arrived in the last one hundred and fifty years. Some of those Europeans came to find gold, some to find land, and some to escape the scarcity of opportunities in their homelands. People from all over Europe flocked to Butte at the turn of the century to work in the mines, making it the most ethnically diverse city in Montana. Chinese people too were economically crucial in the Gold Rush era; despite the prejudice they often suffered, their manual labor built much of Montana's infrastructure and their enterprise enlivened the economy. Many Mexican America people migrated to the Billings area to work in the fields. The Hmong people of Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley were brought here by our government a scant thirty years ago, after the war in Viet Nam.
All these groups carry with them extremely refined skills and techniques embedded with the thinking and inspiration of generations of people.
But it is not just people's ethnicities that we honor here, it's also our ways of living in this land.There were European, and Indian and African-American cowboys riding Montana's ranges. It was what you did that was important, and that made you who you were. Whether you are Irish or Norwegian or Crow, if you make your living as a cowboy, you have to ride a horse, and you need a saddle to help you do it. In the days when cowboys really did spend lots of time sitting around campfires, they told stories and sang songs and recited poetry to pass the time, and this became a cowboy tradition that survives today, campfire or no campfire. Then too, in cold climates, everybody has to keep warm. Quilting bees became a way for all kinds of women to recycle used clothing materials, to do something useful while having a good time socializing. The logging and mining industries too have produced their own songs that carry the stories of the men who worked in them.
It is good for Montana to encourage pride in our heritages, and to celebrate the arts of the diverse peoples who live here. Despite their persecution and forced acculturation, Indian people still celebrate their culture with powwows and carry on ceremonies that are hundreds of years old.They struggle to keep speaking their languages. Hmong people celebrate their new year at the traditional Hmong time—early in December—partly so that their young people can court each other in the old way, with beautiful dress, songs and dances. Through music, dance and celebration and storytelling, people carry on what is important to them from the past. As author Sir Laurens van der Post noted, "When people have lost their stories, they have lost their meaning, and when they have lost their meaning, they lose the will to be a people."
The Montana Arts Council Apprenticeship Program
It is the council's aim to support, celebrate and present all arts, including folk and traditional arts, to all the people of Montana. This publication documents 30 apprenticeships that were awarded to Montana artists from 1992 to 1996. The Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program was established with funding support from the National Endowment for the Arts and is part of the council's long-range strategy to recognize, encourage and present the folk and traditional arts of Montana.
This program distributes awards of $1,500 to $2,000 to pairs of master artists and apprentices. This format recognizes that folk and traditional arts are often—and sometimes only—learned through a one-on-one teaching situation that lasts over a period of time, that doesn't follow a school calendar and most often is best accomplished outside a classroom situation. Awards are decided by a panel of folklorists and folk artists on the basis of excellence of work of the master and apprentice, the integrity of master-apprentice relationship and the service potentially rendered to the community through carrying out this apprenticeship. This usually means that if ethnicity or occupation is a factor in the apprenticeship, it is best if master and apprentice belong to the same community, culture or ethnic, occupational or regional group. The goal is both to encourage individual artists and to preserve the arts within the group for the future.
The Montana Folk Arts Survey
In 1995 and 1996, with grant support from the Folk Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts, field workers Blanton Owen, Dr. Patricia Sawin and Dr. Alexandra Swaney contacted, interviewed, taped and photographed traditional artists from every region of the state. The field work helped to identify the many different cultures that make up Montana: 40 different ethnic groups as well as many different regional and occupational groups and communities. This survey helped to find new artists for the apprenticeship program as well as artists to include in Montana's first-ever touring exhibit of traditional arts, Bridles, Bits and Beads, which toured ten Montana museums and galleries from 1998 to 2000.
Alexandra Swaney
Director of Folklife Programs
Photos by Blanton Owen
