Tradition/Innovation: American Masterpieces of Southern Craft & Traditional Art, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, is intended to acquaint Americans with the best of their cultural and artistic legacy. “Through this exhibit and the online and educational materials that we’ll present, we want to introduce people in the South to master artists and craftspeople living and working in their own communities,” said Gerri Combs, Executive Director of the Southern Arts Federation. “The incredible diversity of these individuals and the objects they create will give people a new window into the traditions of the South’s many cultural communities and the vibrant contemporary craft movement in the region.” Among the artists in the exhibit are six recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor for traditional artists. The combination of contemporary craft and traditional art in this exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to explore the "threads" between two different approaches to creating artwork, and also to compare the approaches of traditional and contemporary artists.

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