Traditional Arts Programs for Students (TAPS & JAM)
TAPS instructor Sid Luck provides plenty of “hands-on” instruction to his Seagrove Elementary School pottery students at the North Carolina Pottery Center in Randolph County. TAPS (Traditional Arts Programs for Students) is based upon the highly successful JAM (Junior Appalachian Musicians) project, a North Carolina Arts Council initiative first administered by the Arts and Education Program and now by the Folklife Program.
TAPS provides community organizations (arts centers, schools, community centers) with funding for after-school programs that unite North Carolina elementary and middle school students with local traditional artists. Taught by experts utilizing traditional instructional techniques, students receive training in strong local, vernacular artistic traditions that have deep cultural roots in their community.
In addition to Junior Appalachian Musicians programs enjoyed in mountain counties, TAPS programs also can be found in Piedmont and eastern North Carolina counties:
• Randolph County’s Seagrove community hosts a pottery program, a partnership between the North Carolina Pottery Center and Seagrove Elementary School.
• Raleigh’s Triangle Korean School offers a language immersion program that teaches language through traditional arts.
• A program in Kinston, Lenoir County, coaches middle school jazz orchestra students in traditions of jazz and funk.
• The Haliwa-Saponi tribe of Halifax and Warren counties and the Lumbee Indians of Hoke County teach powwow regalia and traditional craft workshops for local students.
Click here for TAPS grant guidelines
Downloads: Contact Sally Peterson, Folklife Program Director, North Carolina Arts Council for more information.
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