Ken Koshio, Taiko Player. Phoenix, AZ | 2023 Ken Koshio is a taiko player who also plays the Shamisen (three-stringed instrument) and Shinobue (bamboo flute). Born in Japan, Koshio grew up surrounded by traditional Japanese culture. He began learning music at a young age and was exposed to traditional, ceremonial drumming practiced under Shintoism and … Read more
Maria del Carmen Parra, Ancestral Foodways. Phoenix, AZ | 2020 Maria del Carmen Parra is a Xicana Indigena with lineages in Texcoco, Mexico, Raramuri from Chihuahua and Izkalotekatl from the Calpoalli Nahuacalco. She “grew up” in the kitchen with her mother, a traditional womb worker and healer, and later attended culinary school looking for a … Read more
Keith Johnson, Percussionist. Phoenix, AZ | 2019 Keith Johnson was a Phoenix-based percussionist who plays rhythms from Africa and the African diaspora and builds traditional instruments and costumes. He worked with apprentice, Rohan Williams, to teach the artform of making and playing drums and other instruments. He died Dec. 21, 2024. In 2022-23, Keith was … Read more
José Soto, Mexican Folkloric Dancer, Phoenix, AZ | 2018 José Soto is a dancer and teacher of traditional Mexican folkloric dance. He learned the form from his mother, a seamstress and costume maker, during his childhood in Sinaloa, Mexico, where he regularly participated in annual school festivals and community events. He later studied formally at … Read more
Francisco Garcia, Muralist. Phoenix, AZ | 2017 A muralist rooted in hip-hop culture and traditional muralism, Francisco’s work can be seen on walls in communities throughout Phoenix, Arizona. Garcia will work with emerging muralist Angel Lugo to build skills and knowledge of traditional and contemporary mural art by working on several community mural projects through … Read more
Wanesia Spry Misquadaceis, Annishinaabe Artist and Jeweler | 2017 Wanesia Spry Misquadaceis will pass on the tradition of birchbark biting, a traditional art form of the Annishinaabe people and Canada. The bitings are used in storytelling, beadwork, quillwork to produce baskets, medallions, dresses, seed pot containers, canoes, and Annishinaabe sacred midi scrolls. Wanesia and mentee … Read more