The Folklife and Traditional Arts Program, a new initiative of the Houston Arts Alliance, is focused on promoting and presenting the lively cultural traditions of the nation’s fourth largest metropolitan area. The program works in the city’s diverse neighborhoods and communities to explore and highlight the contemporary traditions that make Houston one of the most vibrant urban landscapes in the United States.

The folk and traditional arts are deeply rooted in a community’s identity and built around such factors as shared ethnic heritage, language, religion, occupation or sense of place. Genres of artistic activity that arise within these communities include, but are not limited to, music, dance, crafts, storytelling and other forms of oral expression. These vital and constantly reinvigorated artistic traditions are shaped by commonly-held values and standards of excellence that are passed from generation to generation, most often within family and community, through demonstration, conversation and practice. 

The program’s goals include research, documentation and public projects that explore the wide variety of established and emerging cultural communities that come together in the greater Houston area. The program also provides technical assistance and resources to local traditional artists, engages in collaborations with colleague organizations, and markets the city’s rich and diverse culture to locals and visitors alike.

The director of the Folklife and Traditional Arts Program is Pat Jasper. She is the founding director of the Austin-based, statewide folk arts organization, Texas Folklife Resources. Recent projects include curating A Celebration of Texas Music, Food and Wine for the 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, held on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Since 2005, she has co-directed a major documentation project,  Surviving Katrina and Rita in Houston, co-sponsored by the University of Houston, the Library of Congress and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

For more information on the program, contact Pat Jasper at pat@haatx.com or 713.527.9330.