AFTA Awards Eight Mentor-Apprentice Teams for 2024-25 Apprenticeship Program

Eight mentor artists have been selected to participate in the Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts statewide apprenticeship program. The program, currently in its fifth year, funds teams of mentor artists and apprentices committed to sustaining their artistic traditions and cultural heritage.

Teams are required to develop a work plan for the upcoming project year, meet with each other regularly over the course of the year and finally, share their experience with their communities at the culmination of the project. This year's mentor artists are Jerry Fisk, Georgia Hudson, Micheal LeBlanc, Maria Cristina Moroles, Troy Odom, Ed Pennebaker, Alejandra Reyes, and Cory Winters.   

• Jerry Fisk of Nashville will return to the program to mentor John Lindsey in the traditional art of engraving. Fisk has been working as a master bladesmith for more than 30 years and has taught classes internationally. He was the 1999 Arkansas Living Treasure recipient. 

• Georgia Hudson of Little Rock will mentor Agnolia Johnson in the traditional art of African American gospel. Hudson will share gospel songs such as hymns, spirituals and Dr. Watts songs. Hudson has been singing gospel songs since she was six years old and has toured with groups such as ACTS III and the Gathering. Hudson has recorded an album titled Now is the Time.  

• Michael Louis LeBlanc of Bentonville will mentor Piper Hart in the traditional art of cast metal. LeBlanc is the owner and operator of Licorne Foundry and practices in cast metal sculpture. He has been practicing for over a decade and a half and has presented artwork and research nationally and internationally. In 2019, he was awarded a Sturgis Fellowship to practice in Japan. In 2023, he had a solo exhibition, "Cajun,_____",  at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. Most recently, he was a featured artist at the "Delta Triennial" at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock and has gallery representation at Boswell and Mourot Fine Art Gallery in Little Rock.  

• Maria Christina Moroles of Ponca will return as a mentor to Artemis Diaz in the traditional art of curanderismo. Known as a curandera, a traditional healer in Mexican indigenous culture, Moroles provides limpias (cleansings) and energy healings, along with herbal remedies. She is the matriarchal steward of Santuario Arco Iris (Rainbow Sanctuary), an intentional living community focused on women and children of color in Newton County.  

• Troy Odom of Mountain View will mentor Megan Lunsford in the traditional art of letterpress printing. Odom began working with letterpress printing and other forms of printing in 1980. Odom taught in the graphic communications department at Newport Highschool for 27 years while continuing to research and practice printing techniques. In 2010, Odom began working with the historical printing press at the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, where he continues today.  

• Ed Pennebaker of Clinton will return as a mentor to Amanda Whatley in the traditional art of blown glass. Pennebaker has been practicing the traditional art of glass blowing for over 30 years. Pennebaker's work is featured in the Clinton Presidential Library, among other galleries and locations.  

• Alejandra Reyes of Dardanelle will mentor Adamaris Moreno in the traditional art of Day of the Death altars. Reyes has been creating altars and keeping other traditional material and intangible culture relating to Day of the Death for over 20 years. Reyes creates displays in local libraries and museums and is active in sharing her knowledge with her community, especially with younger generations.  

• Cory Winters of Van Buren will mentor Allison Langson in the traditional art of shapenote singing. Winters has been studying and playing traditional Irish music since the age of 11, when he began playing violin. Winters has been writing his own shapenote songs since 2013 and has been mentored by leading shapenote song writers such as Dan Brittain. 

"Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts is dedicated to creating opportunities that put resources and funding back into the hands of artists and tradition-bearers," said Virginia Siegel, AFTA director. "We're really excited to work with such an incredible group of artists this year. We've been able to increase the number of awards, and it's encouraging to see new tradition-bearers share their expertise and skills as the program grows each year." 

Artists began their apprenticeships in November 2024 and will continue through May 2025. The next round of applications will be made available in June 2025 with a submission deadline of Aug. 31.      

Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts is a statewide program of the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections Division dedicated to building cross-cultural understanding by documenting, presenting and sustaining Arkansas' living traditional arts and cultural heritage. The Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program is supported by state partnership funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arkansas Arts Council.