Tennessee Folklife Program

06/01/2026

05/26/2026

Please join us this Saturday, May 30, as we partner with the Tennessee State Museum for a special event marking the 10th year of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. As part of the annual Statehood Day celebration and in conjunction with America 250 festivities, more than 50 folklife artists will demonstrate and perform at the museum in Nashville from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The museum is located at 1000 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208. Free parking will be available in nearby state lots.

Traditional art forms featured will include buck dancing, Choctaw beadwork and basketry, white oak basketry, instrument making, cartonería, flint marble making, ballad singing, coopering, wood carving, blues music, Old Harp singing, Choctaw social dancing, quilting, Kurdish traditional music, net making, hat making, string band music, Memphis Jookin, broom making, seed saving and agricultural folkways, and Stump Jumper boat making.

Find the full itinerary and artist list here: https://tnmuseum.org/calendar-of-events/event/6095868

05/01/2026

We are excited to announce our partnership with the Tennessee State Museum on a special event marking the 10th year of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. As part of the annual Statehood Day celebration and in conjunction with America 250 festivities, over 50 folklife artists will be demonstrating and performing at the museum in Nashville on Saturday, May 30 from 9:30 AM to 2 PM. Traditional art forms featured will include buck dancing, Choctaw bead working and basketry, white oak basketry, instrument making, cartonería, flint marble making, ballad singing, coopering, wood carving, blues music, Old Harp singing, Choctaw social dancing, quilting, Kurdish traditional music, net making, hat making, string band music, Memphis Jookin, broom making, seed saving and agricultural folkways, and Stump Jumper boat making.

The event will also include guided tours of the exhibit "Tennessee Voices, American Stories," hands-on activities, historical wet-plate photography, the premiere screening of "A Grand Design: Captain Le Roy Reeves and the Tennessee State Flag," and the annual festive cupcake celebration. Rafael Figueroa Manuel Delgado Damion Pearson Arkan Doski Charlotte Underwood Rick Stewart Old Harp Singing in East Tennessee Aundra McCoy Josh Roberson Madi Dean Carmen Hicks Dorian Thompson

For more information: https://tnartscommission.org/news/tn-state-museums-statehood-day-celebrations-will-commemorate-america-250-and-tennessee-230/

03/12/2026

Thomas Maupin, of Murfreesboro, is Tennessee’s best known and most respected practitioner of flatfoot buck dancing--a percussive solo dance style that traces its roots to an early American mixing of Scots Irish step dance and African American dance and rhythm. Born in 1938 in rural Eagleville, Tennessee, Thomas was surrounded by dancers on both sides of his family. “I grew up in a large farming family full of dancers,” Thomas says. “I can still remember the sound of my grandmother’s bare heels hitting the floor, right on top of the beat. That made a big impact on me.”

The winner of over 60 first place awards in contests across the region, Thomas was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship in 2017 from the National Endowment for the Arts. Thomas states, “Buck dance is typically done with the feet closer to the floor, focusing on sound rather than acrobatics, trying to match the note values of the music.”

In 2018, Jacob Fennell, of Dickson, apprenticed with Thomas as part of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. Born into a middle Tennessee dance family, Fennell has been performing on stage and competing in contests since age six. “I believe it is important to preserve and pass down this dance form in order to keep it alive. This dance form has taught me more than just dance, including life lessons, kindness, and how to be a better person to others.”

As part of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program this year, Jacob has joined Thomas to teach new apprentice Colette Rainwater. Colette began dancing two years ago after observing some of Thomas’s students perform around the state, including at Maupinfest, his namesake festival. “I quickly fell in love with this form of dance when I found it,” she says. “I now spend a lot of my time learning and perfecting my craft. I am excited to keep it going.”

We watched Thomas, Jacob, and Collette demonstrate buck dancing late last year at the annual meeting of the Tennessee Folklife Society in Crossville. They were joined by a group of other outstanding middle Tennessee dancers and musicians, including Daniel Rothwell and Austin Derryberry, both previous participants in the Apprenticeship Program.

03/03/2026

Applications are now being accepted for the 2027 Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. Entering its eleventh year, the program sustains our state’s diverse folklife traditions and directly supports its traditional artists. The next deadline for applications is May 15, 2026. For a full description of the program, the application process, and the application guidelines, visit the link below.

Overview and Eligibility: FY2026 Application Deadline: May 15, 2026 Project Dates: July 1, 2026-June 15, 2027 The Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program is an initiative created to sustain our state’s diverse folklife traditions and support its traditional artists. Funding is awarded to eligible ...

12/12/2025

Renee Stewart, of Sneedville, carves strikingly lifelike human and animal figures with nothing more than a pocketknife. Renee first learned her intricate woodcarving skills from her grandfather, renowned cooper Alex Stewart, a recipient in 1983 of the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Renee’s brother Rick Stewart, like their grandfather, has carried on as a cooper--a maker of wooden vessels like churns and barrels--and taught his own son Brendon during the 2019 Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. Renee is also skilled at coopering, and occasionally assists her brother with his tubs, buckets, and piggins. She also makes miniature coopered items.

Renee explains: “Woodcarving and whittling have been traditional art forms here in Hancock County for generations. With the passing of time, and in my lifetime, there has been a change. No longer do people sit in front of the courthouse and whittle or carve. People seem too busy to practice carving. Yet, the county is blessed with a variety of trees, many of which are ideal for carving. This family tradition is disappearing.” Renee works to keep this tradition alive by demonstrating at festivals around the state. She has presented her woodcarving at Hancock County’s Fall Festival for over 40 years, as well as at Mountain Makins’ Festival in Morristown, the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Historic Rugby, the Dogwood Arts Festival in Knoxville, the Appalachian State Fair in Gray, and Exchange Place in Kingsport. She also teaches carving to local groups of 4-H students.

As part of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program this year, Renee is teaching apprentice Christi Fleenor her style of miniature carving. Christi’s family, like the Stewarts, has made Hancock County home for generations. Christi, already an experienced quilter and drawer, has shared a demonstration booth with Renee at the Fall Festival for the past five years. Earlier this year, Christi expressed interest in learning to carve. She explains, “I have always admired Renee’s ability to carve. I would like to learn how to identify wood types and what types are suitable for carving, what tools are used for carving, the process of carving and be able to carve objects on my own as my grandfather did. It is a rare trade that is not being passed on to younger generations and will eventually become extinct.”

We visited Renee and Christi last month, along with Rick and Brendon, at Rick’s coopering shop on his homeplace in Sneedville. We were deeply impressed by the caliber of artistry and the vitality of the living traditions on display.

11/07/2025

We were deeply saddened to learn earlier this week that Carlos Deford Bailey had died. A harmonica player, singer, songwriter, and teacher, Carlos was the son of Nashville Rhythm & Blues mainstay Deford Bailey, Jr., and the grandson of pioneering Grand Ole Opry star Deford Bailey, Sr.

Over the past twenty years, Carlos had dedicated himself to restoring his grandfather’s legacy and to promoting the contributions of African Americans in the development and history of country music. His efforts contributed greatly to Deford Bailey’s induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and to the renaming of Horton Avenue in Nashville’s historic Edgehill neighborhood as DeFord Bailey Avenue in 2023.

Carlos shared his family story and taught harmonica to thousands of school children as an instructor for both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the National Museum of African American Music. He fulfilled a lifelong dream recently by becoming a regular guest performer himself on the Grand Ole Opry and was featured prominently earlier this year in the Opry’s 100th anniversary celebrations.

In 2023, Carlos taught as a master artist in our Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program with apprentice Quincy LeJuan Phillips, Jr. We were honored to spend several occasions documenting and visiting with Carlos at his home and backstage for one of his Opry performances.

While he would likely want to be remembered most for his devotion to his grandfather’s memory, Carlos was himself a true original, a gifted entertainer, and one of the most unforgettable and beloved Nashville personalities of his generation.

10/28/2025

“When someone dies, you hold a funeral and you mourn. Then on Día de Mu***os, we celebrate their life.” Day of the Dead will be celebrated on November 1-2. One of the key elements of this holiday is the construction of the Altar de Mu***os (ofrenda). Monica Sanchez learned the traditions of Día de Mu***os through family customs and teachings at home. Monica was instrumental in establishing and sharing Day of the Dead traditions with the public in Memphis beginning in the 1990s. The extraordinarily popular Day of the Dead parade and festival in Memphis, coordinated through the nonprofit Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group and Brooks Museum of Art, drew over 5,000 people last year and has become their hallmark event. Monica has made it her mission to share her cultural heritage with her community and her family.

As part of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program this year, Monica’s daughter Xanat is doing a deep study on Day of the Dead traditions and building the ofrenda. Yesterday, we got to witness Monica and Xanat building an altar at the Global Education Center here in Nashville. October 27 is known as Día de las Almas de las Mascotas. On this day that marks the quiet beginning of los Días de Mu***os in Mexico and many communities in the United States, the Day of the Dead for pets takes a moment to remember pets who have been loved and lost.

As Monica and Xanta built the ofrenda, Monida discussed the various symbols and history of the altar. Emphasizing the importance of bright colors, Monica and Xanat hung and placed crepe paper garlands (papel picado), hand cut by Xanat. While they meticulously placed each component, stories emanated about those who have passed on and were honored with the altar, revealing that the process of creating the altar with someone also provides a space to memorialize and remember loved ones. For those interested in learning more about the parade, check out and the websites.

10/24/2025

Nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains just outside the national park, Wears Valley has been the heartland of Old Harp singing for over a century. Every September, community members gather for two days of singing at the Wears Valley Convention—one of several annual all-day singings which sustain and punctuate this living tradition.

Old Harp singing is a participatory tradition where singers sit in a hollow square formation, the tenors facing the altos, the trebles facing those singing the bass part. The hymns are sung a capella, and each participant has a chance to stand in the center and lead a tune. Uniquely, old harp singers use a seven-shape tune book called The New Harp of Columbia, originally published in 1867 in Knoxville. Deeply rooted in community and place, this regionally specific singing style is practiced by multiple generations.

As part of our 2025 Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, longtime harp singer Jeremy Shipp is sharing this communal singing with two of his children. Growing up in this tradition, James and Verity are familiar with old harp singing. Through the apprenticeship, they will do a deep study of the hymns, how to sing their parts, and learn how to lead tunes from the center of the hollow square. The TN Folklife team visited the Wears Valley Convention at the end of September to hear the mesmerizing sound of the four parts in harmony. This tradition is open to everyone and sustained by a small group of dedicated members. It was beautiful to see young apprentices James and Verity carrying on an important part of East Tennessee’s cultural heritage. This team was funded through In These Mountains initiative.