Apprenticeships

The 2026 Apprenticeship Application is now open! 

The 2026 apprenticeship program will run from February through August 2026.

NEW DEADLINE: The deadline for submission is January 30, 2026, 11:59PM.

All 3 forms must be submitted for a complete application. 

Application Links:

Part 1 (Pairs): https://form.jotform.com/253504565950157

Part 2 (Artist-Mentor): ​​https://form.jotform.com/253504174061146 

Part 3 (Apprentice): https://form.jotform.com/253504097981161 

Texas Folklife’s Apprenticeship in the Folk & Traditional Arts Program proudly supports art forms and traditions that might otherwise might be lost, preserving and celebrating the diversity of cultural communities across Texas. Whether it is an art form that is uniquely Texan or is something that is practiced in an international culture in diaspora, we support the artistic production of any culture, as long as it is practiced in Texas.

The annual program provide honorariums to approximately eight artist mentors, ensuring the opportunity for them to equitably offer one-on-one training in art, cultural, or heritage practices to dedicated apprentices for six to eight months.
By refining artist mentors’ approaches to their crafts, broadening apprentices’ skills, and encouraging the transmission of knowledge within and between cultural communities, the Apprenticeship Program fosters the continuity of Texas’s folk and traditional arts.

Since 1987 Launch
• Supported 403 artist mentors and apprentices
• Represented 98 cities and towns
• Championed over 70 traditional art forms
• Involved 3 NEA National Heritage Fellows and 1 Grammy Award winner

Since 2015 Re-launch
• Awarded over $135,000 directly to artists
• Reached over 40,000 members of the public

Eligibility

• Apprentices must live in Texas.
• Artist mentors may live in Texas or a neighboring state: Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, or Arkansas.
• No age requirements for apprentices or artist mentors.
• Previous participants: If you participated in the 2025 Texas Folklife Apprenticeship Program, you must wait one year before applying again.

What the program does not fund

• Re-creations of historic artifacts or staged productions that attempt to reenact lifestyles from the distant past
• Contemporary, individual studio art projects
• Ongoing classes in a classroom setting (mentor as instructor for a group)
• International apprenticeships

Review criteria

Artistic Quality and Commitment (60 points)

• Artistic strength of the mentor’s work, based on the standards of the traditional community
• Apprentice’s established skill and demonstrated commitment

Feasibility (15 points)

• Clear and achievable work plan
• Appropriate budget
• Strong potential for a successful mentor-apprentice collaboration

Impact (25 points)

• Role and significance of the tradition in community life
• Potential impact on sustaining the tradition over time

Skill level and program focus

Apprentices should have some experience in the tradition and be ready to deepen their skills through focused, hands-on learning. This program supports skill-building and continuity of living traditions through mentorship.

Financial requirements

1. If selected, participants must submit:
2. A W-9 tax form