Folk arts are complex. In our apprenticeship program, every report tells us that there is far more to learn than the neophyte has expected. The great guitarists, lace-makers, and step-dancers make it look easy, but mastering the art and the essence of the style is a long-term job that requires a serious commitment.

Folk arts are culturally specific. In every one of our multi-cultural urban festivals, each ethnic or tribal group likes to demonstrate its own special aesthetic vision, its own particular artistic life. The single truly universal principle appears to be mutual appreciation. As one of our most honored grantees, the great Black singer, Mrs. Bessie Jones, once remarked: "I just love to hear people play their own music because they do it so well!"

Folk arts are sophisticated. Each master craftsman, each master musician, works from a tradition so complex and so artfully refined over generations that it takes the most careful documentation to capture it for our future benefit. Ukrainian egg-painters can distinguish their work from that of Polish or Russian egg-painters at a glance.