Connecticut Museum of Culture and History Announces Mentor-Apprentice Artist Teams, Initiative to Sustain Cultures

The Connecticut Museum of Culture and History has announced the 2026-27 cohort of the Southern New England Apprenticeship Program (SNEAP), comprised of mentor-apprentice artist teams from across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

SNEAP provides funding to these teams to support the teaching and learning of traditional arts, trades, practices, and crafts to sustain culture that is important to a community.

SNEAP has developed a regional network of excellent traditional and occupational artists who actively practice their art forms. For over 28 years, 195 apprenticeships have taken place with more than 500 folk artists participating.

The 2026-27 cohort – and the focus they’ll be pursuing:   

·         Alibaba Awrang and Ali Awrang will study Persian Calligraphy

·         Jerry Bryant and Ian Basilone will study Maritime lore/traditional New England singing

·         Ranendra Das and Pavan Kapoor will study Classical Indian Tabla

·         Eric Dennis and Ian McCarthy will study Bloomery Iron Smelting

·         Yohanna Escamilla and Barbara Arango will study Flamenco Dance

·         Rafael Feliciano-Roman and Victoria Encarnacion will study Puerto Rican Vejigante Mask Making

·         Matin Malikzada with Omar & Osman Malikzada will study Afghan Pottery

·         Khalida Marefat and Emran Marefat will study Islamic Tazhib Art (Traditional manuscript illumination)

·         Deborah Spears Moorehead and Stephanie Stonefish Ryan will study Eastern Woodland Native American Women’s Music

·         Sarada Nori with Bhuvana Areti and Esha Malli will study Carnatic Classical Music (South Indian Classical Music)

·         Andrew Rowand and Lauren Brinkers will take part in Mentor to Mentor skill share in Shoemaking

·         Mary Ruth Shields and Nerissia Ebai will study Hand Embroidery and Hand Applique

·         Moussa Traore and Ray Cohen will study Djembe, Malian Traditional Music

The Department of Cultural Sustainability at the Connecticut Museum manages the program in collaboration with the Mass Cultural Council, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, independent folklorist Winifred Lambrecht, and the Afro Caribbean Cultural Center.

Funding for the 2026-2027 program comes from the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation, the Connecticut Office of the Arts/DECD, and the National Endowment for the Arts.