Identifier
TR12/2670 (local)
959393936 (OCLC)

Repository
Massachusetts Archives

Date
1991 - 2014 (Inclusive dates)
1999 - 2014 (Bulk dates)

Summary

In 1999, the Massachusetts Cultural Council's Folk Arts and Heritage Program succeeded the Folklife and Ethnic Arts Program, 1987-1992. Since then it has documented, presented, and supported cultural expression based on shared ethnicity, religious belief, occupational tradition, or sense of place. It identifies and documents craftspeople, performers, and cultural specialists; and seeks to help sustain the proactice of tradition where they live and to increase appreciation of their artistry within the community and beyond. The program has established an ongoing regimen of documentary fieldwork, provided direct support to individual artists through Artist Felloweships and Traditional Arts Apprenticeships, and created visibility for traditional artists through print media, radio broadcasts, and bookings at regional folk festivals. The collection generated by the Folk Arts and Heritage Program comprises unique primary source materials (primary audio recordings, visual documentatio, and interview) documenting the traditional culture, beliefs, occupational skills, and expressive traditions of cultural communities from all across Massachusetts. Series consists of materials generated by folklore field research conducted by the MCC staff folklorist, interns, and contracted professional folklorists and photographers. Field research focuses on the traditional and vernacular music, dance, crafts, and material culture of the people of Massachusetts, from long-settled to new immigrant communities.

St 1989, c. 653, ss 14-16 abolished the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities and the Massachusetts Arts Lottery council, combining their functions in the MCC, effective 1990, within the office of the state treasurer. The gubernatorially-appointd council is mandated to review facilities, activities, and needs of public and private institutions in the Commonwealth and to fund programs concerned with the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences. The council pursues this mission through a combination of grant programs, partnerships, and services form nonprofit cultural organizations, schools, communities, and artists. The council's functions are currently described in MGLA c 10, ss 52-58.

Creator and/or Contributor
Maggie Holtzberg (creator), Massachusetts Folk Arts and Heritage Program (creator), Massachusetts Cultural Council (creator)

System of Arrangement

Items arranged first by individual fieldworker and then chronologically within each smaller grouping.

At the item-level, titles include a unique identifier which includes the initials of the field worker or intern, the year in which the subject file was created, and a number which indicated the subject's order in the interviews conducted for that particular year. Folders are arranged within this scheme.

Conditions Governing Access

This series has no restrictions to access.

Related Archival Materials

This series has three related collections:

AF10/870x, Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities Massachusetts Folklife Interview files, 1987-1988;

AF10/871x, Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities Massachusetts Folklife Audiocassettes, 1987-1988;

 AF10/872X, Slides of the Festival of American Folklore, 1988

Copyright Notice

Those records created by Massachusetts government agencies and institutions held by the Massachusetts Archives are not copyrighted and are available for public use.  Copyright for materials submitted to state agencies may be held by the person or organization that created the document. Patrons are responsible for clearing copyright of such materials. For more information on copyright law, please see the U.S. Copyright Office's web page at www.copyright.gov.

Extent
19 (cubic feet)
428 (audiocasettes)

Language
English (Languages)

Other Subject Headings
Folk art -- Massachusetts. (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Folk music -- Massachusetts. (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Folklore -- Massachusetts. (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Massachusetts -- Politics and government -- 1951- (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))

Temporal Coverage
1999 - 2014

Geographic Coverage
Massachusetts (state) (Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names)

URL

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