The Master-Apprentice Artist Award provides direct financial support for highly skilled traditional artists living in Arizona to pass on their art, culture, and heritage to apprentice learners. Made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the award supports a master artist or tradition bearer who has identified a qualified apprentice — or group of apprentices — for a sustained teaching-learning relationship built on one-on-one mentorship and hands-on experience. Our highest priority is to support apprentices learning from master artists within their own cultural traditions.
Funds may be used to cover artist fees, offset the cost of raw materials, and support any travel essential to the exchange. Master artists and culture bearers receive $5,000; apprentices receive $500.
Nominations for 2026 Master-Apprentice Awards
Nominations for 2026 are now closed.
Artists invited to Full Application will receive a private Submittable link, which also has these updated guidelines.
Below are two different ways to be guided through the Full Application.
Please note that this award is contingent on federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and may be subject to changes or adjustments based on federal funding priorities.
Nominations for next cycle will reopen in Spring 2027.
How It Works
The award supports a master artist or tradition bearer who has identified a qualified apprentice (or group of apprentices) to engage in a sustained teaching-learning relationship that includes one-on-one mentorship and hands-on experience. Our highest priority is to support apprentices learning from master artists within their own cultural traditions.
Funds can be used to cover artist fees, offset the cost of raw materials, and support any travel essential to the exchange.
Who Is Eligible
Artists are first nominated by peers within their community, cultural institutions, apprentices, or by self-nomination. SFA then invites nominees to apply based on their mastery of artform, their ability to describe how that form has been recognized by their cultural community, and their readiness to share traditional knowledge. Eligible artforms include, but are not limited to:
- Handcrafts: weavers, basket makers, jewelers, makers of masks, ritual objects, and textiles
- Occupational folklife: adobe makers, leather workers, ironworkers, foodways practitioners
- Oral traditions: storytellers, poets
- Performing arts: dancers, vocalists, musicians
Please note that this award is contingent on federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and may be subject to changes based on federal funding priorities.