Artists at Work (AAW) is a national initiative that provides artists in six cities including Tucson with an eighteen-month salary, health care, and professional support as they work alongside community organizations to address local needs through their art practice.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Leia Maahs, then Executive Director of the Southwest Folklife Alliance, surveyed heritage-based artists in Arizona about their immediate and long-term needs. Many said they needed a virtual marketplace and ways to increase their economic mobility. A pilot online market with 10 artists was launched during the Tucson Meet Yourself … Read more
Loom Network is SFA’s professional development and peer community program for traditional and heritage-based artists in the Southwest. SFA hosts and facilitates live gatherings, peer exchange, practical business skills, and community — a program designed by artists, for artists.
The Master-Apprentice Artist Award provides direct financial support for highly skilled traditional and heritage-based artists living in Arizona to pass on their artform, culture, and heritage to apprentice learners. The award is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Arizona Commission on the Arts.