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News Release

Last modified: Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Traditional Arts Indiana receives 2013 Governor's Arts Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 14, 2013

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Traditional Arts Indiana, an organization that works to promote, document and preserve the knowledge, skills and stories of traditional Indiana artists, is one of six recipients of the 2013 Governor's Arts Awards.

"Having directed Traditional Arts Indiana at IU for the past decade, it is greatly rewarding to see our work documenting and promoting Indiana's folk arts and traditions honored with a Governor's Arts Award," said Jon Kay, director of Traditional Arts Indiana and a research scholar in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University Bloomington's College of Arts and Sciences. "From African American quilters and Amish buggy makers to bluegrass fiddlers and mariachi ensembles, Indiana is home to a diverse array of traditions. This award recognizes the value of the everyday creative lives of Hoosiers and our organization's work supporting it."

Traditional Arts Indiana is a partnership established in 1998 between IU Bloomington and the Indiana Arts Commission. It is dedicated to expanding public awareness of Indiana's traditional practices and works to identify, document and understand more fully the many ways in which cultural values and the arts are embedded in daily life. Toward this aim, Traditional Arts Indiana conducts folklife surveys in counties throughout the state, creates traveling exhibitions about ethnic and community traditions, and presents Hoosier artists both regionally and nationally.

Other recipients of the 2013 Indiana Governor's Arts Awards are philanthropist Christel DeHaan and music educator and vocalist Cynthia Hartshorn, both of Indianapolis; singer/songwriter John Hiatt of Nashville, Tenn.; Bloomington mayor Mark Kruzan; and producer, the late director and actor Sydney Pollack of Los Angeles.

Conceived in partnership between the Indiana Arts Commission and the Office of the Governor, the biennial award honors individuals, organizations, partnerships, businesses and communities that have made significant contributions to the arts in and beyond Indiana.

Gov. Mike Pence, first lady Karen Pence and the Indiana Arts Commission will honor the recipients during an awards dinner and ceremony Sept. 26 in Carmel, Ind.

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