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   Saints of Puerto Rico
WOOD CARVER PROGRAM

Unique program in Rhode Island
 

Under The Southern New England Traditional Arts apprenticeship program, (SNETAAP), Master/artisan Carlos Santiago from Massachusetts transfers his knowledge to the apprentices Lydia Perez, Yidell Rivera; (Apprentice 2016),  Olga Silva and Aliciea Preza, (Apprentices 2021), and Amanda De Grace and Kelli Garratt (Aprentices 2023), all of Puerto Rican heritage and background.  The project began every January and ran til July 30. 

 

This project fosters the sharing of traditional (folk) artistic skills through the apprenticeship learning model of regular, intensive, one-on-one teaching by a master artist from either RI, MA, or CT with apprentices from one of the other states, as a way of knitting together members of the same community or group across state lines. Teaching and learning traditional arts help to sustain cultural expressions that are central to a community, while also strengthening festivals, arts activities, and events of which the master and apprentice artists will perform or demonstrate their results of cooperative learning to public audiences.

 

The Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program at the Connecticut Historical Society manages the program in collaboration with the Folk Arts Program at the Massachusetts Cultural Council, with independent Folklorist Winifred Lambrecht. primary funding for this amazing program came from the  National Endowment for the Arts.

Apprentices 2016-2023
Master Artisan Carlos Santiago
 

Apprentices 2023
Master Artisan Carlos Santiago

Apprentices 2022
Master Artisan Carlos Santiago

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