ENDOWMENT FOR ARTS TO DOCUMENT ARTS COMMUNITIES IN BOOTHEEL

The Missouri Folk Arts Program has received grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Missouri Arts Council to document underserved arts communities in the Bootheel region of Missouri.

The Folk Arts Program is co-sponsoring the endeavor with the State Historical Society of Missouri.

Throughout the year a project team consisting of professional student scholars from Missouri and surrounding states, working with local community leaders and artists, will explore a wide range of artistic expression in the southeast Missouri Bootheel region.

Researchers will develop profiles of artists, performers and audiences as they explore local arts communities.

According to project coordinator Ray Brassier,"The identification of arts communities can be deceptively complex since arts communities may be organized according to any number of principles such as geographic location, gender, ethnic affiliation, class, occupation, religion and artistic genre."

Though this survey of Bootheel creativity and aesthetic expression will be as broad and inclusive as possible, traditional (folk), ethnic, and regional art forms will command special interest.

Researchers seek to document Bootheel performances, exhibitions and displays by way of audio tape recording, 35mm photography and field notes.

Information gathered during the project will be used to prepare a descriptive resource guide designed to assist public programmers and presenters of art in the Bootheel.

Plans also include a traveling exhibition which will tour regionally.

These initiatives are fashioned to encourage the work of local artists by enhancing their recognition and to boost public appreciation for the arts among locals and visitors.

The project researchers are Ray Brassieur (project coordinator) Deborah Bailey (field supervisor/researcher) and David Whitman (photographer/researcher).

Thanks to the NEA and MAC grants, funds are also provided to help support the efforts of four student interns who will conduct research on the Bootheel project.

The interns will benefit from a supervised field experience and from interaction with the professional team of researchers and consultants.

A group of professors -- Erika Brady, from Western Kentucky University; Sylvester Oliver from Rust College in Mississippi; Tom Rankin, from the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and the University of Mississippi; and Prahlad Folly, from the University of Missouri-Columbia will serve as consultants.

The project team would appreciate hearing from anyone interested and knowledgable in the art, lore, culture and local history of the Bootheel.

Artists are particularly encouraged to come forward to participate in this documentary effort. For more information about the project, or to share information about Bootheel arts resources, contact Ray Brassieur, Western Historyical Manuscript Collection, 23 Ellis Library, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Mo., 65201 (314) 882-0191.