Painters Pharaoh Baker and Ellis Wright in the studio

Painters

Fieldwork

Apprentices

Teaching of folklore

African Americans

Painting

Art

Workplace

Workshops

Artists

One proof sheet with 36 black and white prints (plus negatives). Baker and Wright were among the first participants in the apprenticeship program, 1983-1984. Master artist Baker taught Wright painting. Images were created in Baker's studio. Baker, whose first painting was a copy of a church hand fan for which he was paid five dollars when he was a child, studied art at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. He worked for years as a professional sign painter in Lake City, but also created emotionally charged and religiously influenced paintings and sculptures on the side. Folklorist Blanton Owen has described his work as 'blues on canvas'. Baker died in 2002. The Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program began in 1983 with a NEA grant of $22,000. The program provided an opportunity for master folk artists to share technical skill and cultural knowledge with apprentices in order to keep the tradition alive. Apprentices must have had some experience in the tradition and had agreed to train for at least six months. The first project director was Blanton Owen,who was later replaced by folklorist Peter Roller. The program was continued each year until 2003.

State Archives of Florida, Series S1640

1984-04

Florida Folklife Program

Still Image

S1640

1

1

Photographic prints

Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program

Owen, Blanton, 1945-1998

Baker, Pharaoh, 1925-2002

Wright, Ellis, 1950-

African American

1907

/fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg