Since 2022, the American Folklore Society has managed the inaugural Folk Arts Partnership Professional Development Institute (FAP PDI) to support folk and traditional arts program managers at state arts agencies, regional arts organizations, and their partners.
Components of the Professional Development Institute
- Virtual and In-Person Workshops: Hosted online via Zoom or in-person at convenings of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) and the American Folklore Society.
- Community of Practice: Hands-on practice and conversations with peers centered around emerging ideas and practices in the field.
- Hive Mentorship Program: Pairings and groupings of cohort peers and field professionals as well as lightly facilitated quarterly meetings.
- Informal Networking and Sharing: Open hours Coffee Chats for informal socializing as well as planned Shop Talks to share about or discuss specific topics.
- Targeted Engagement: Individualized connections with colleagues.
- Resource Hub: A website archive of FAP PDI activities, including workshop recordings and presentations, and additional resources and sample documents.
FAP PDI Facilitators
Laura Marcus Green
Co-Program Manager
Laura received her M.A. in Anthropology/Folklore with a minor in Cultural Geography from the University of Texas at Austin in 1986. She earned her Ph.D. in Folklore with an Anthropology minor from Indiana University in 1998. Her doctoral research explored historic and contemporary Navajo/Diné trading and art as a cultural meeting place. Her enduring research and practice interests include material culture (especially fiber arts!), community creative writing, and community-based projects that live at the crossroads of cultural expressions, social services/social justice, and community development.
Cassie Rosita Patterson
Co-Project Manager
Cassie received her PhD in English with a Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Folklore from Ohio State University in 2015. She served as Associate Director of the Center for Folklore Studies and Director of the Folklore Archives at Ohio State University from 2012-2021. Her research interests include Appalachian studies, commemoration and public display, collaborative ethnography, and participatory action research. Patterson is founder and Executive Director of Southern Ohio Folklife, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization established in 2020 that supports, documents, and networks folklife in the region. Cassie is sole proprietor of Cassie Rosita Patterson, LLC, which offers folklore and humanities consulting services.
Taylor Burby
Facilitator, Community of Practice and Coffee Chats and Shop Talks
Taylor is Fellow in the Department of Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin. She holds a B.A. in Linguistics with a minor in Sociology from the University of Nevada, Reno, as well as an M.A. in Folklore and Public Culture from the University of Oregon. After completing her graduate studies, she worked for four years as a public folklorist, conducting qualitative research for multi-year projects in collaboration with five arts agencies throughout the Intermountain West. The data she collected through fieldwork contributed to digital archival projects, exhibit collaborations, podcasts, and folklife festivals, while also deepening her understanding of how material and expressive culture reflect and give form to values, trends and collective identities.
Rina Rossi
Facilitator, Community of Practice
Rina Rossi is an independent consultant and advocate for traditional artists in the Midwest. She recently completed an 8 year term as a program officer for the Minnesota State Arts Board where she managed four grant programs including a folk and traditional arts program, a festival support program, a touring artists program, and two general support programs for individuals and arts and non arts organizations. During her tenure at the Arts Board, she focused on using data-informed supports to improve the scoring/adjudication process in service of increasing equity. As a result of improvements that she and her colleagues worked to implement, the agency moved millions of dollars to organizations led by leaders of color and individuals identifying as artists of color, artists and arts groups in greater Minnesota (rural and small town residents), artists with disabilities, and organizations that exist to serve individuals with disabilities.
Contact Information
Eric Giles, Community Learning Director, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies: eric.giles@nasaa-arts.org
Jessica Turner, Executive Director, American Folklore Society: jturner@afsnet.org
Cassie Rosita Patterson, PDI Project Manager, American Folklore Society: cpatterson@afsnet.org
Ryan Stubbs, Chief Program and Strategy Officer, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies: ryan.stubbs@nasaa-arts.org
Jennie Terman, Folk & Traditional Arts Specialist, National Endowment for the Arts: termanj@arts.gov.
