PCA Folk & traditional Arts
Work Sample A: 5 Samples of Apprenticeship Program to Illustrate Master/Apprentice Pairs
1) Losang
Samten, Master Artist and Soo Kyoung Kim, Apprentice -- Tibetan Sand Mandalas
Recipients
of 2017-2018 Apprenticeship in Traditional Arts Award
The
Venerable Losang Samten (www.losangsamten.com), a National Heritage Fellow, was
the first person to create a Tibetan sand mandala in the U.S., which he did in
1988 at the request of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama. Since then
he has traveled extensively, sharing his knowledge of meditation and Buddhist
ritual arts. He resides in Philadelphia, and creates mandalas several times
each year at the Philadelphia Folklore Project and the Folk Arts-Cultural
Treasures (FACTS) Charter School. In 2017-18, he has been awarded an Apprenticeship
in Traditional Arts to work with apprentice Soo Kyoung Kim.
Image of master Samten with Mandala of Compassion
Finished 'Wheel of Life Mandala,' created by Losang Samten and Soo Kyoung Kim
2) Patty Dillman, Master Artist and Lorraine Felker, Apprentice -- Willow Basketry
Willow
basket-maker, Patty Dillman, from Tioga County (in the northern central region of Pennsylvania) apprenticed in the late 1980s to New York basket-maker Bonnie Gale.
She has continued her craft since, cultivating her own crop of willow and
refining her technique. In 2017-18, she will work with apprentice Lorraine
Felker, of Schuylkill County, who is one of the featured artists at the Walk in
Art Center.
Willow cradle basket, created by master Patty Dillman
Willow basket created by master Patty Dillman
Willow basket created by master Patty Dillman
Willow basket created by apprentice Lorraine Felker
Willow basket created by Lorraine Felker
3) Kormassa Bobo, Master Artist and Saigay Sheriff, Apprentice -- Liberian Dance
Liberian
dancer, Kormassa Bobo, and her daughter, Saigay Sheriff, received a 2016-2017
Apprenticeship in Traditional Arts award from the PA Council on the Arts. In the following video, Kormassa appears on the
viewer’s left, and they perform a traditional Liberian dance for a Liberian
congregation at a Philadelphia church.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYJt9yNmN9I
4) Viji Rao"Ganesha Om" by Viji Rao, Philadelphia
This video contains excerpts from Rao's performance titled "Om Ganesha." Rao is a master in the PA Council on the Arts' Folk and Traditional Arts Master/Apprentice program. Rao has worked with multiple apprentices over the last 10 years.
One flexibility of PA's Master/Apprentice program is that it allows accepted masters to also apply as apprentices, in cases where a specific nuance of the art form may be explored to greater depth. Rao completed a 2016 Apprenticeship in this fashion, during which she traveled to Chennai, India to learn two varnams from 81-year-old Professor C.V. Chandrasekhar.
https://youtu.be/h2TwNAVrb3E
5) Salt Rising Bread
This video highlights
the historical background and science behind salt rising bread and provides
details on the Master/Apprenticeship project that began at the Rising Creek
Bakery and the community outreach activities conducted by both the Master
Baker, Genevieve Bardwell and Apprentice, Antonio Archer in 2017 – 2018.
At 2:32 min: history and science of salt rising bread
At 13:42 min: Apprenticeship and community outreach activities