The Montana Circle of American Masters (MCAM) celebrates the contributions of Montana’s master artists in traditional and folk arts. A member of Montana’s Circle of American Masters is a person who throughout their lifetime of work in the traditional arts has created a notable body of work. Of significant cultural and artistic stature, their work is representative of the historic, traditional, and innovative arts distinctive to the State and is worthy of note on both a state and national level.
The folk and traditional arts are rooted in a community (ethnic, geographic, linguistic, religious, occupational) or family. They reflect the aesthetics and values of the community in which they arise and are often symbols of a group’s identity. Examples of visual (or material) folk arts include, but aren’t limited to, quilting, beading, saddlemaking, tole painting, ledger art, or calligraphy. Examples of intangible folk arts include, but are not limited to, dance, songs, instrumental music, storytelling, foodways, and local architecture, all of which are forms of traditional arts not designed as visual. All these grassroots ways of knowing have woven Montana’s rich heritage.
Traditional arts are learned through careful observation and practice, usually from elders and masters and often passed on from one generation to the next. They can be self-taught within a tradition wherein the folk practitioner or artist is of the cultural background that the practice originates.
To learn more about the 2023 Montana Circle of American Masters honorees, read the special section in the Spring 2023 issue of State of the Arts, available right here.
Learn more about all previous Montana Circle of American Masters recipients here.
The folk arts are complex with a diversity of aesthetics requiring a broad range of criteria to encompass all the art forms. Consideration must be given to the traditional methods and techniques used, the skill of the artist, and the method in which they learned their art.
This award focuses on master artists, how they learned their art form, their body of work, and their contribution to their community and art form. As the embodiment of a tradition, the body of art should be of high quality, considering aesthetic excellence, workmanship, and authenticity. The artist's contribution should speak to how a cultural way has been sustained.
The aesthetic qualities of the body of work depend on its design and how that design creates visual appeal, marries with the materials, and satisfies function. The design:
The technique with which the art is executed in the body of work is important both to enhancing the design and in fulfilling the intended function of the pieces. The work:
The authenticity of the work speaks to both honouring the past and giving to the future. The body of work of a Master artist:
Traditional arts are not created in a vacuum. Therefore it is important that the selection criteria for a Master include the individual's contribution to the community through sharing the art form and raising public awareness. A Master is: