Viewing page 16 of 17

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Transcription: Transcription: [01:13:45]
[01:13:45]
{Speaker name="Speaker 1"}
Thank you very much for coming, and if you have any further questions, we're available. We also have a small brochure and lists of tribes, if you are interested in those, as well. Thanks.
[[clapping]]
[01:14:00]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
Within earshot to this, uh, the beginning of this discussion session. This next 45 minutes, or so is going to start off, at least, by highlighting a certain Federal government program,
[01:14:14]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
that's based about a block and a half from here in the old Post Office and the National Endowment for the Arts.
[01:14:19]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
In one of the many programs they have there, one of the smallest too, I might add, the Folk Arts Program.
[01:14:27]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
And one of the types of grants; that's what the Folk Arts Program does, basically, is give grants. One category of grant that we have is the apprenticeship grant.
[01:14:38]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
That is a grant to individuals to enable a learner, somebody who is already fairly good at what they want to do, to have that rare opportunity to get together and study with a very, a truly a master craftsman.
[01:14:51]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
I'd like to introduce-- Well, let me first of all, say that, following out of that, we'll turn it over to our colleagues here from Puerto Rico, both cultural activists, and artists and apprentices,
[01:15:04]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
as well as master artists. And I guess, the first thing to do is start off by introducing the director of the Folk Arts Program at the National Endowment for the Arts, Bess Lomax Hawes.
[[clapping]]
[01:15:16]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
Hi.
[[clapping]]
[01:15:21]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
I think that it's high time that a lot of Americans got to hear the fact that some of their tax money goes to things other than National Defense and Social Security.
[01:15:34]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
That's about all we read about in the newspapers here. There's a lot of your tax money that is redistributed back out to people right across this country,
[01:15:47]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
who have made enormous contributions to the, I think, the health and the welfare, and the psychic well-being of Americans. And those are our folk artists.
[01:16:01]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
We, in the National Endowment, give small grants to artists of all varieties: operas, to small independent theaters, to people who write books,
[01:16:16]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
to people who-- to small dance companies, right across the country. And, as Dan was saying, part of what we do is that we distribute money
[01:16:27]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
to traditional and folk artists, also, right across the country, including as we said, our friends in Puerto Rico.
[01:16:34]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
We're very interested in the idea of using little bits of government money to try to get some of these extraordinarily beautiful crafts and musical traditions passed on.
[01:16:47]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
And one of the best ways we found to do it is to fund young people to go and study.
[01:16:53]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
These apprenticeships we call them are sort of short term learning possibilities, really.
[01:17:00]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
They should be-- We try to work them out in ways that young people in a community can go and study seriously for a long period of time,
[01:17:10]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
with a craftsman, or a musician, or a singer, or a dancer, or a storyteller.
[01:17:17]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
They can pay the master artist with a little bit of federal money to teach them.
[01:17:25]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
This gives a little bit of money back to the senior artist, and it also provides a good working relationship between the master and his pupil.
[01:17:34]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
It has some very extraordinary results. It has particularly caught on in a few areas around the country,
[01:17:44]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
and I'd say one of the most exciting programs has been developed in Puerto Rico.
[01:17:48]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
And Dan will be introducing our colleagues from Puerto Rico who can tell you a little bit about the way their program has worked,
[01:18:00]

{Speaker name="Bess Lomax Hawes"}
and then Dan and I can tell you about the way the program has worked in other parts of the country.
[01:18:04]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
I would like to keep this as informal as possible. This is a call to discussion area, because this gives you the opportunity to discuss with any of us up here, if you'd like.
[01:18:13]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
And I'd like to point out before I turn it over to my colleague to my right here, that the program, the Folk Arts Program, is one of the many attempts, or ongoing efforts in cultural conservation,
[01:18:25]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
that are highlighted right next door, here in the learning center.
[01:18:29]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
So we invite you all to go over there and look out-- look at such things such as the Luiseño Culture Bank, which was also developed with funding from the Arts Endowments Folk Arts Program.
[01:18:39]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
Also, another master craftsman, who was a great teacher under this apprenticeship program, is highlighted and others, as well.
[01:18:47]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
So we invite you to, after we are through here, is wander over there. And also, if you have any questions or comments throughout the next 30 minutes or so, just please feel free to just jump in.
[01:18:57]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
Now, its always nice to be at these festivals, because you have a lot of great pleasures, and now I have one of those great pleasures, and that's to introduce the gentleman to my right.
[01:19:07]


{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
One of the most active of activists that one could possibly imagine. A man who has done immeasurable benefit
[01:19:16]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
for traditional crafts people in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, in the Caribbean. Director of the Office of Craft Development in Fomento,
[01:19:27]

{Speaker name="Dan Sheehy"}
which is the office of economic development, a part of the Puerto Rican government, Mr. Walter Murray Chiesa.
[[clapping]]
[01:19:33]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Thank you.
[[clapping]]
Thank you very much Bess and Danielle.
[01:19:37]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
To my right here, Miguel Caraballo father and Miguel Caraballo junior, you know. We have been invited by the Smithsonian,
[01:19:45]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
by the Natio-- Folk Art's Program of the National Endowment for the Arts, and we are here.
[01:19:50]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
It's been wonderful seeing so many craftsmen from the United States and from other countries. And already we are friends with many we have known.

[01:19:59]{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Of course, we can not leave our area, because there's so many people after the masks, let me tell you frankly. In fact, I am worried now, because we have sold more than half of all we brought.
[01:20:10]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And for three months, I had them just working exclusively for this festival.[[laughter]] And they're working now all the time.
[01:20:17]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
They make-- they are making masks from just a strip of paper to the finished product.
[01:20:22]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And I would, following Danielle's advice, I'd like you to go and meet them. I'll be there and we'll be translating for them.
[01:20:27]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
They-- They don't have to know English, nor German nor Eng-- nor Spanish. Well, Spanish they know.
[01:20:36]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
[[laughter]] But they know how to make masks, and that's important thing. That's why they are making Ponce and Puerto Rico famous.
[01:20:45]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
These are artists, and just as artists, if they had been studying at the academies, at the universities, or at the conservatories; they are all artists.
[01:20:55]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And here's a young example of the new generation of craftsmen, and then this is a young man also.
[01:21:03]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Miguel, in fact, we can't tell who is the father and who is the son. [[Laughter]] But one day, I was very fortunate in 1977-- 1978,
[01:21:13]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
and I came over to Washington to ask for help. And I came to the friendliest of places, the National Endowment for the Arts.
[01:21:21]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And it was, you know, easier than I thought, you know. And they were so eager to help. So we got this special apprentice program. Initially, started father and son,
[01:21:34]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
and let me tell you, there's about 10 of them, which are father and son teams. And it's natural, because crafts are part of the family.
[01:21:42]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And it has been part of the Caraballo family, because the other-- another famous maker of masks, Juan Alindato, is the cursing of Miguel [[??]] Caraballo.
[01:21:52]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And they were taught by Donya Panchika Salvador, an invalid lady I knew, who taught her art through Migu-- to Miguel and to Juan.
[01:22:03]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Then, along came the scholarship, Miguel junior received the scholarship from Danielle and Bess and Bob, and they-- he was with his father every afternoon learning his art, for 1 year.
[01:22:19]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Two years afterwards, Miguel was designated young craftsmen of the year in Puerto Rico, because we have a very special activity. [[clapping]]
[01:22:29]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
We-- the government has designated the month of July as month of the craftsman. And we have been trying to get such special things-- such special developments.
[01:22:42]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Then, he was selected young craftsman of the year, and then we also select a master craftsman of the year.
[01:22:50]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Then Miguel; he has excellent marks. He's also an athlete, he has won 28 medals as a runner, and now he finished high school, he's 19 years old.
[01:23:00]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And he's, at last,-- One university; Catholic university, offered him so many scholarships that he accepted. Three universities were after him.
[01:23:10]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And at the same time that he's a wonderful student, a good athlete; he's master craftsman of Puerto Rico.
[01:23:17]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Although young, he's a master craftsman. He makes all the small masks. Miguel dresses himself as a vejigante, which is the name we give to the mask figure that go out into the streets,
[01:23:29]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
hitting people with a cow's blood or inflated cow's bladder, and painted in bright colors.
[01:23:34]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
This come from Medieval times. So this is very old tradition; a fine tradition. We have documents about this carnival from the 17th century.
[01:23:45]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
So Miguel, this young man is keeping the tradition, keeping the mask as it was made through the centuries.
[01:23:52]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
But there were other scholarships given to Celestino Aviles from Orocovis. He used to make rings out of a seed from a palm. He saved the Corozo ring craft in Puerto Rico.
[01:24:06]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
But then he learned, by himself, to make figures out of clay with a primitive oven he designed himself. And then he taught Ada, his daughter,
[01:24:16]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
and we got a scholarship from National Endowment for them. And she's already making clay dolls.
[01:24:24]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Then we also had Tony Rosario from the eastern part. He makes chickens and hens with real feathers, and he has taught his son to do that.
[01:24:32]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Then we have Emilio Rosado, and Emilio Rosado; his picture over here in this section, he carves roosters. He's one of the great master craftsmen of American of the world. A true living monument.
[01:24:46]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Then we have Julio Negron Rivera; who makes musical instruments. And I have been greatly surprised:
[01:24:54]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
our friends here at the National Endowment have told me that Julio has won the National Heritage Award, and he'll be coming here in September.
[01:25:02]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
So, what are these people doing, what these good friends are strengthening all the cultural aspects we have in all over America,
[01:25:12]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
and even Asia now, and all other countries. So, it's great that this is done, because this troubled times, this is what we need.
[01:25:21]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Excellent people like our craftsmen and like your craftsmen and like every country's craftsmen are good hard workers, talented, working for the well-being of humanity.
[01:25:33]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
We have Juan Alindato, a master craft-- mask maker whom we can bring. So, today we had some very good news.
[01:25:41]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Juan Alindato is another master mask maker, and I was a little sad because I couldn't bring him. And then I knew I had little trouble, you know.
[01:25:50]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
But, meanwhile we had another project from-- submitted to our universities.
[01:25:55]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
We wanted universities to select and appoint a resident master craftsman, like the living monuments in Japan.
[01:26:03]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And today, we have learned from the Chancellor of the University that the Senate, the Academic Senate, has approved 6 resident master craftsmen from Puerto Rico.
[01:26:14]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And Juan Alindato, the man that stayed behind, will be the first master-- resident master craftsman at University in Ponce.
[01:26:22]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
So, everything balances. And then we have Jose Julian Acostra-- Acosta, who makes jewelry out of coconut. And he taught an apprentice.
[01:26:34]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
Then we have Rafael Negron who makes seed jewelry in Corozal in the interior of Puerto Rico. He taught his cousin.
[01:26:41]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And we have Julio Negron Rivera, won the National Heritage Award, who taught his son Geraldo to make musical instruments.
[01:26:48]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And finally, again to come back to Miguel Juan Caraballo, father of Miguel Caraballo, son, I think that the program is so successful that I even can't--
[01:26:59]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
I can't believe it myself, let me tell you! It's wonderful! It's incredible!
[01:27:04]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And for 8 years now, we have had great success. And, at last, the Puerto Rican craftsman has been recognized outside of Puerto Rico.
[01:27:15]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And this has helped us, you know? Because then in Puerto Rico, they see that how people here in the United States recognize our crafts, and that will serve them a lesson. It's always like that. [[laughs]]
[01:27:25]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa"}
And, it's also always. Now we want private enterprises to give scholarships for older craftsmen that can't get the scholarships, because, you know, there are so many.
[01:27:36]

{SPEAKER name="Dan Sheehy"}
Walter, one thing that's long struck me about some of the many, many of your [[laughs]] efforts is that you recognize the importance of the family and passing on tradition.
[01:27:48]

{SPEAKER name="Dan Sheehy"}
Really what we're talking about here is-- is the continuity of tradition. That's the aspect of cultural conservation we're focusing in on here, really, behind it all.
[01:27:56]

{SPEAKER name="Dan Sheehy"}
And then I've noticed, and others have noticed, that you, you particularly, have recognized the value of the father-son or mother-daughter,
[01:28:04]

{SPEAKER name="Dan Sheehy"}
or any family kind of relationships that-- that best transmit the real depth of the-- of the artistic tradition.
[01:28:13]

{SPEAKER name="Dan Sheehy"}
After all, traditional arts are more than just learning a technique. There's the whole realm of meaning, the whole realm of attitude, of usage that goes along with that.
[01:28:21]

{SPEAKER name="Dan Sheehy"}
And actually, I've never really heard you say-- expound upon your idea of the nuclear, what do you call it, the nuclear family, or something of that sort. I wonder if you might--
[01:28:32]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
Well, I-- in Spanish I say, "El nucleo familiar." El nuclear familiar. This not-- I don't know how to say it in English. It's, it's-- [[laughter]].
[[Side conversation]] Como de say nucleo?
[01:28:45]

{SPEAKER name="Dan Sheehy"}
The familial nucleus.
[[laughs]]
[01:28:47]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
It's a nucleus of crafts.
[01:28:49]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
Original, it was sprung from the family. We don't want that to be forgotten, you know?
[01:28:56]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
And the sometimes you discover a son or a daughter who wants to learn from the mother or the father, you know? It's not in all cases like that, but in all these cases it has worked, you know?
[01:29:09]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
There's one in the family that wants to follow in their father's or mother's attempt.
[01:29:14]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
Now in order to honor those families, I remember that the craftsman was not recognized either as an artist or as a member of the labor force.
[01:29:24]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
That's why we don't have any legislation in favor of craftsmen. So we have been issuing posters here on the left hand side.
[01:29:31]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
We issue 4 posters honoring the mask man or the woman craftsman and I think this is the first time I have seen this because most craft posters have the work of the craftsman, not the face.
[01:29:46]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
Not the man and the woman. And we have issued 32 posters already. And every year we issue 4 honoring,
[01:29:56]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
you notice, that in that one, we honor Miguel Caraballo, father and son.
[01:30:00]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
We have also issued a map of the crafts of Puerto Rico, which is-- was given away too quickly and there's no more!

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
In fact, this one belongs to the Smithsonian, because we don't have a single one in Puerto Rico.
[01:30:14]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
Now, this was-- we were trying for tourism, to establish the crafts root. The crafts root is a process by which you visit the craftsman at his own home, you know?
[01:30:25]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
You buy from him. You meet him. You know the country. You buy agricultural products. You buy food. You buy refreshment. You promote the economy.
[01:30:35]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
And I have been trying for our office of tourism to incorporate the crafts promoter. So far, I have not been successful.
[01:30:43]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
The new director of tourism has promised me for July, that he will appoint a crafts promoter, and also establish the crafts root.
[01:30:52]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
We would like also a crafts promoter, Department of Commerce and at the Housing Department, because crafts are so important to them,
[01:31:00]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
not only in the cultural aspects, but for the development of the economy.
[01:31:04]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
Even my own agency, you know, I am like, rather, an invading force, you know? I want to demonstrate that one craftsman is important for the development of the economy,
[01:31:16]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
and tourism must be a great source of, you know, resources. But if we don't develop the proper promoters, and we don't stimulate the craftsmen,
[01:31:27]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
giving them scholarships, we would want scholarships for them to visit Mexico, the United States, for one month, enrich their views, and know other craftsmen, and things like that.
[01:31:39]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
We also have a tool bank. And it's surprising how many tools we have been able to get. For instance, I exchange a hammer even for a lecture on crafts.
[01:31:49]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
And a bank, a private bank there in Puerto Rico, gave me about $14,000 in tools: Banco Popular. And this is a business ad, you know, because they have been so generous.
[01:32:00]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
And then, Pfizer product has given me about $3,000 in tools. And it's the best way to help the craftsmen, because craftsmen and tools are almost the same thing, you know?
[01:32:12]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
And the craftsman has great love for his tools. He even makes them. Notice the people from Laos. They make knives and all kinds of tools.
[01:32:21]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
So, we have many programs. We are always conspiring, let's say. And well, we have even a creed for the promoter, you know?
[01:32:31]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
We have been writing. Eventually, we'll publish a little book: "What Is A Crafts Promoter."
[01:32:37]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
But a crafts promoter is a person that loves crafts above all, knows the history of the country; traditions. We are even collecting crafts vocabulary.
[01:32:47]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
So, we have been doing this. Suddenly, we meet with good friends from the National Endowment and good friends from the Smithsonian, and this really inspire us.
[01:32:57]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
And we keep on working, and every morning, our spring is wound very tightly, and we start-- with such excellent friends.
[01:33:05]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
And I would like them to express what they are thinking just now, even if it's in Spanish, and we'll try to translate.
[01:33:12]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
Danielle will translate.

{SPEAKER name="Dan Sheehy"}
All right.
[01:33:14]

{SPEAKER name="Walter Murray Chiesa "}
Miqiel, como fue que [[speaking in Spanish]]
[01:33:16]

PLEASE TRANSLATE THE DIALOG BELOW IN SPANISH.
{SPEAKER name="Miqiel"}
[[Speaking in Spanish]]
[01:33:28]

{SPEAKER name="Miquel"}
[[Speaking in Spanish]]
[01:33:34]
chita, entonces hace llora

{SPEAKER name="Miquel"}
[[Speaking in Spanish]]
[01:33:42]
Entonces, yo empeza aqui

{SPEAKER name="Miquel"}
[01:33:54]


{SPEAKER name="Miquel"}
[01:34:01]

Transcription Notes:
Dan Sheehy, Walter Murray Chiesa, and Bess Hawes- found in the 1985 American Folklife Festival program. Words I am unable to understand at Time stamp [01:21:42], [01:22:19], [01:26:48], [01:27:36], [01:28:32], [01:32:57]. The rest of the video starting at [01:33:14] is in Spanish.