Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman awarded National Heritage Fellowships
Recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowships were announced, and one went to Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman of the Bronx, New York. Beyle is a Yiddish singer, poet and songwriter. The award includes $20,000. "These fellowships recognize lifetime achievement, artistic excellence and contributions to our nation's traditional arts heritage." Recipients are deemed to be "worthy of national recognition and have a record of continuing artistic accomplishment. They must be actively participating in their art form, either as practitioners or as teachers. Fellows are selected according to criteria of authenticity, excellence, and significance within the particular artistic tradition." Schaechter-Gottesman is just the fifth Jewish artist to receive this high honor - Dave Tarras, 1984; the Fatima Kuinova, 1992; Epstein Brothers, 1998; Flory Jagoda in 2002. This is first time a Yiddish singer/sonwriter/poet has received it. Other 2005 recipients are:
Eldrid Skjold Arntzen of Watertown, Conn., a Norwegian-American
rosemaler, or flower-motif painter; Earl Barthé of New Orleans, a
decorative building craftsman; Chuck Brown of Brandywine, Md., an
African-American musical innovator; Michael Doucet of Lafayette, La.,
a Cajun fiddler, composer and bandleader; Jerry Grcevich of North
Huntingdon, Pa., a Tamburitza musician and prim player; Grace
Henderson Nez of Ganado, Ariz., a Navajo weaver; Wanda Jackson of
Oklahoma City, an early country, rockabilly and gospel singer;
Hermina Albarrán Romero of San Francisco, a paper-cutting artist;
Albertina Walker of Chicago, a gospel singer; and James
Ka'upenaWong of Waianae, Hawaii, a Hawaiian chanter.
http://www.nea.gov/honors/heritage/Heritage05/NHFIntro.html
Posted by jmwc at June 16, 2005 09:43 AM
