American Folk Masters: The National Heritage Fellows

The melting-pot image of America belies the crazy-quilt ethnic diversity that continues to flourish, as revealed in this folk sampler, the catalogue of a recent exhibition at Santa Fe's Museum of International Folk Art. A Pueblo potter, Creole and Appalachian fiddlers, a Czech American egg painter, African American tap dancers and singers, a Finnish-American accordionist, cowboy poets, Latino muralists and a Laotian-born shamanic dancer are among the nearly 150 folk artists and performers profiled. All of them were selected since 1982 as grant recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts' Folk Arts Program. In his celebration of multiculturalism, accompanied by 160 plates (50 in color), Siporin, a folklorist at Utah State University, interprets these vernacular artists as both innovators and conservers of tradition. The artists' own modest, moving statements reflect their commitment to forging a community-based aesthetic. (Sept.)