Haga clic aquí para español
The Southern New England Apprenticeship Program (SNEAP) helps communities preserve their cultural knowledge by supporting teaching relationships between a mentor and apprentice. The program provides funding to cross-state apprenticeship teams from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, or Connecticut. The teaching and learning of traditional arts, trades, practices, and crafts helps sustain living cultural heritage forms that are important to a community. These traditional forms are expressions of community identity and values and are usually taught informally. These traditional forms can include performing arts, crafts, trade/occupational skills, and religious, seasonal, or ceremonial traditions. (Reenactments, recreations, and historic reproductions are not eligible under this program).
EXAMPLES
Some examples of communities and traditional forms might include:
| Occupation |
blacksmithing; mandolin making; hotrod car building; taxidermy |
| Community |
lion dance; santos-carving; liturgical song; hip-hop |
| Ethnicity |
iconography; wampum-carving; traditional food-making; cultural wedding practices |
The Southern New England Apprenticeship Program has developed a regional network of excellent traditional and occupational artists who actively practice their art forms. For over 25 years, 161 apprenticeships have taken place with more than 500 folk artists participating. A full list of previous apprenticeships can be viewed here.
The Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History manages the program in collaboration with the Folk Arts Program at the Mass Cultural Council and independent folklorist Winifred Lambrecht. Primary funding for the program comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Connecticut Office of the Arts/DECD, and other partner organizations.
FOR ASSISTANCE
If you need assistance or have any questions, please contact SNEAP Manager, Philitha Stemplys-Cowdrey or your state’s program director. They are:
Connecticut
Philitha Stemplys-Cowdrey
SNEAP Manager
CT Historical Society
1 Elizabeth St.
Hartford, CT 06105
860-236-5621 x 201
philitha_stemplys-cowdrey@chs.org
Rhode Island
Winifred Lambrecht, PhD
Rhode Island Folklorist
401-454-6266 (office)
401-864-9006 (cell)
wlambrec@risd.edu
Massachusetts
Maggie Holtzberg, PhD
Folk and Traditional Arts Coordinator
Mass Cultural Council
10 St. James Ave.
Boston, MA 02116
617-858-2713
maggie.holtzberg@art.state.ma.us
APPLICATION SCHEDULE*
The application for the Southern New England Apprenticeship Program is now open for the 2023-2024 program cycle.
| Application window open |
May 1, 2023 |
| Application deadline |
July 21, 2023 |
| Notification date** |
September 1, 2023 |
| Time period covered (including public presentation) |
September 2023 – June 30, 2024 |
| Mentor & apprentice final report due** |
June 30, 2024 |
*Please note that dates are subject to change.
**Awards will be distributed in two payments. The first at the signing of contracts, and the second after the submission of the final report to the SNEAP Manager.
This program is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation, and supported by the Connecticut Cultural Fund, the Connecticut Office of the Arts (DECD), and the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. Our institutional partners are the Mass Cultural Council, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, and the Afro Caribbean Cultural Center.
