Oregon Folklife Network is excited to announce award of a 2-year National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) research grant to study the impacts of traditional arts apprenticeships on past awardees and the cultural communities they serve, with a near-term goal of improving national data collection and reporting from an equity perspective. In total, 30 NEA Research Labs are operating nationwide. OFN is one of only two new Research Labs recommended for funding this round.

NEA Research Labs are grounded in the social and behavioral sciences and support transdisciplinary research teams investigating the value and impact of the arts for the benefit of both the arts and non-arts sectors.  OFN’s research design includes partnerships with Texas Folklife, New York Center for Traditional Music and Dance (contributing data), Live Oak Consulting (analyzing data), and Western States Arts Federation (producing the final report).