Apprenticeships

Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program

Applications for the 2026-2027 cycle are due Wed, April 1, 2026.

The Virginia Folklife Program invites people who are experienced in a cultural tradition to consider teaching another community member through the Folklife Apprenticeship Program. We provide funding for an individual who is considered a master of a tradition to train an apprentice of their choosing. Projects in music, dance, crafts, community storytelling, cultural reclamation, traditional healing, agriculture, foodways, and specialty trades are all welcome.

Since 2002, we have supported 149 teams from a wide range of communities and traditions by providing funding for a year-long, self-designed learning experience and a platform to their work with the wider public. To date, the Virginia Folklife Program has supported 362 people practicing traditions as wide-ranging as custom car bodywork, draft horse training, different kinds of cooking, baking and preserving, gunsmithing, auctioneering, instrument building, along with music-making and dancing in styles as wide-ranging and diverse as Virginia’s communities.

Award Details

• $5000 is awarded per team for a 12-month apprenticeship (mentors receive $4000; apprentices receive $1000; additional funding may be available for supplies or for hosting an event in your community) 
• Application, eligibility and more information »

Structure

Individuals who are masters of a folkway work with an apprentice (or sometimes, more than one) over the course of a year to share cultural knowledge and skills. The specific places, times, and learning outcomes are defined by the team. Virginia Folklife Program staff collaborate with the mentor and apprentice to document their experience and share the story of the tradition. Documentation includes interviews, photos, and writing shared on our website and Flickr, in addition to potential video content that is published on the Virginia Folklife YouTube channel. By participating in the Apprenticeship Program, teams also have the opportunity to be part of other public programs presented by Virginia Folklife, including the annual Richmond Folk Festival.  

The Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program is supported by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts Folk Arts Program.  

Folklife is community life and values, artfully expressed in myriad forms and interactions. Universal, diverse, and enduring, it enriches the nation and makes us a commonwealth of cultures.

Mary Hufford, American Folklife: A Commonwealth of Cultures, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, 1991

Apprenticeship Teams