Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage

A woman with long dark hair and dark outfit plays a white electric guitar on a dimly blue lit stage. She and her guitar are slightly blurry.

A Q&A With Musician Gretchen Gonzales Davidson on Arts and Advocacy

“For all of the art that is consumed by everybody, everywhere, every day, it’s a shame that art is often undervalued”

alt="An elder woman with dark skin and short white hair holds up a framed twelve-inch gold record, smiling. Behind her is a seated crowd under a festival tent."

A Century of Ella Jenkins: Tributes to the First Lady of Children’s Music

To celebrate Ella Jenkins on her hundredth birthday in August, we asked a group of musicians how Ella has inspired them.

Two men wearing traditional feathered headdresses stand in front of two microphones, singing and playing hand drums.

Dennis Zotigh Is a Man of Many Talents, Many Tribes

“As Native people, we have to learn to balance two different worlds.”

Carolyn Smith collecting beargrass in Klamath National Forest, 2015. For beargrass to be supple enough for weavers to use in their baskets, it needs to be burned annually. Ideally, it is burned in an intentionally set cultural fire, where only the tops are burned, leaving the roots intact. Prescribed fires in the Klamath National Forest are few and far between, so weavers “follow the smoke” and gather, when they can, after wildfires sweep through the landscape. (Photo courtesy of Carolyn Smith)

How Indigenous Ecological Knowledge Offers Solutions to California’s Wildfires

“We need to reintegrate Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and cultural and prescribed burning into our landscape,” Carolyn Smith says.

Artyom Ghazaryan in his studio in Yeghegnadzor. (Photo by Narek Harutyunyan, My Armenia Program)

The Spirit Across Regions: Armenia from the Local Perspective

Yerevan Magazine spoke with several beneficiaries of the My Armenia Program who offer exciting tourism experiences in different regions of Armenia.

Lisa Marie Thalhammer holds her original LOVE poster with her mural in the background. (Photo by Grant Langford)

This D.C. Muralist Finds Pride and Power in Public Art

Living in Washington, D.C., allows Thalhammer to be close to the political action. It’s important for her to be part of the national conversation. She participates in rallies supporting LGBTQ rights as well as the Women’s March.

Elexia Alleyne. Photo courtesy of the artist

Coming of Age in Poetry: An Interview with Elexia Alleyne

Growing up in D.C.’s barrio, Elexia remembers a vibrant, tight-knit Dominican community.

Elizabeth Acevedo (Photo by Jonathan B. Tucker)

How Poet Elizabeth Acevedo Brings Sacred Monsters to Life

What inspires Acevedo more than anything else are uncelebrated heroes. While pursuing an MFA in creative writing, she realized she wished to dedicate her writing to this idea. She felt somewhat isolated, as the only student in the program of African descent, of an immigrant background, and from a large city.

(Photo courtesy of Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles)

The Quarter-Century Reign of Mariachi Reyna

Far from a “girl band” or pop novelty, the group’s success is a hard-earned triumph of gender justice.

Vahagn working on a clay jug. (Photo by Narek Harutyunyan, My Armenia Program)

The Potter's Wheel: An Inexhaustible Source of Energy

Master potter Vahagn Hambardzumyan is among those who carry on Syunik, Armenia's rich pottery traditions with a modern touch.

Photo courtesy of Alicia D. Williams

How Alicia D. Williams Is Reviving Storytelling for Black Children

Williams wanted a different story for her daughter—and for herself. So, she set out to write it.

Barbara Dane with the Chambers Brothers at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. (Photo by Diana Davies, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives)

How Barbara Dane Carries a Proud Tradition of Singing Truth to Power

Barbara Dane’s protest music took her to Mississippi Freedom Schools, free speech rallies at UC Berkeley, and in the coffeehouses where active-duty men and women steered clear of military police and regulations forbidding protests on bases.

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