Oregon Folklife Network is excited to announce an award of a 2-year National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) research grant to study the impacts of traditional arts apprenticeships on past awardees and the cultural communities they serve, with a near-term goal of improving national data collection and reporting from an equity perspective. In total, 30 NEA Research Labs are operating nationwide. OFN is one of only two new Research Labs recommended for funding this round.

NEA Research Labs are grounded in the social and behavioral sciences and support transdisciplinary research    teams investigating the value and impact of the arts for the benefit of both the arts and non-arts sectors. The team will share its findings and resources through conference panels, webinars, and digital reports. OFN’s research design includes partnerships with Texas Folklife, New York Center for Traditional Music and Dance (contributing data), Live Oak Consulting (analyzing data), and Western States Arts Federation (producing the final report)

Dr. Elisha Oliver is the Executive Director at Texas Folklife. She is a Biocultural Anthropologist, Folklorist, and Visual Ethnographer. Elisha earned her Ph.D. in anthropology, with specializations in Health and Human Biology and Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of Oklahoma. Her research explored the intersections of space and place, food, music, and storytelling with health and wellbeing.

Elisha has over twenty years of nonprofit management and leadership experience. She identifies as a Servant Leader and strives to create spaces for professional growth for her team, spaces that privilege community voices, and spaces for equitable access to arts and culture programming.

Elisha enjoys good coffee and great conversations. If you’re free for a coffee chat, email her. She’ll have Texas-sized stories to share about her wonderful community partners, favorite books, and award winning-esque adventures. Elisha will, encourage you to become a Texas Folklife member (if you aren’t) and you will leave your coffee chat knowing you’ve made a lifelong friend.

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