Mavis Staples Awarded NEA National Heritage Fellowship
Washington, D.C. - Mavis Staples today was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) National Heritage Fellowship. The Fellowship is the country's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
Mavis's father Roebuck 'Pops' Staples received a Heritage Fellowship in 1998, and this year marks the first time that a daughter and father will have been honored individually with a fellowship. Awarded since 1982, other past recipients of the Heritage Fellowship include B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Michael Doucet, Shirley Caesar, Albertina Walker, Doc Watson, and Bill Monroe.
The Fellowship Award Ceremonies will be held in Washington D.C. in September 2006 and include a banquet at the Library of Congress, an awards presentation on Capitol Hill, and a concert at the Strathmore Center in Bethesda, MD.
Fellows are chosen for their artistic excellence, cultural authenticity, and contributions to their field. Other musicians awarded the Fellowship this year were Henry Gray, Doyle Lawson, Wilho Saari and the Treme Brass Band. Awards also went to a hula master, a Cuban guitar maker, and a Native American storyteller. NEA Chairman Dana Gioia said, "In this 40th anniversary year of the NEA, it is particularly appropriate that we honor these master artists whose dedication and exceptional artistry have enriched our nation's cultural landscape."
Fellowship recipients are nominated by the public, and then judged by a panel of experts in folk and traditional arts on the basis of their continuing artistic accomplishments and contributions as practitioners and teachers. This year a nine-member panel reviewed 217 nominations for the 11 fellowships.
Mavis's father Roebuck 'Pops' Staples received a Heritage Fellowship in 1998, and this year marks the first time that a daughter and father will have been honored individually with a fellowship. Awarded since 1982, other past recipients of the Heritage Fellowship include B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Michael Doucet, Shirley Caesar, Albertina Walker, Doc Watson, and Bill Monroe.
The Fellowship Award Ceremonies will be held in Washington D.C. in September 2006 and include a banquet at the Library of Congress, an awards presentation on Capitol Hill, and a concert at the Strathmore Center in Bethesda, MD.
Fellows are chosen for their artistic excellence, cultural authenticity, and contributions to their field. Other musicians awarded the Fellowship this year were Henry Gray, Doyle Lawson, Wilho Saari and the Treme Brass Band. Awards also went to a hula master, a Cuban guitar maker, and a Native American storyteller. NEA Chairman Dana Gioia said, "In this 40th anniversary year of the NEA, it is particularly appropriate that we honor these master artists whose dedication and exceptional artistry have enriched our nation's cultural landscape."
Fellowship recipients are nominated by the public, and then judged by a panel of experts in folk and traditional arts on the basis of their continuing artistic accomplishments and contributions as practitioners and teachers. This year a nine-member panel reviewed 217 nominations for the 11 fellowships.
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