HARTFORD, Conn. (May 13, 2024) – The Connecticut Museum of Culture and History is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for the 2024-25 Southern New England Apprenticeship Program (SNEAP) through July 31.

For 26 years, SNEAP has enabled communities to preserve the knowledge of their cultural and heritage arts, trades, and practices by funding teaching relationships between a mentor and apprentice. The program provides funding to apprenticeship teams across Connecticut, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island state lines, and this year will award up to $3,500 for mentors to train their dedicated apprentices.

SNEAP includes a regional network of actively practicing traditional and occupational artists and culture-keepers. Since its inaugural year, 180 apprenticeships have taken place among more than 500 participants. “Supporting cultural communities’ arts, trades, and practices is a priority of this program. Mentor artists and tradition-bearers pass on culturally-rooted knowledge, which supports personal and professional growth, strengthens community well-being, and sustains these cultural artists and their practices for the future,” Philitha Stemplys-Cowdrey, SNEAP Manager at the Connecticut Museum, said. Recent apprenticeships have included classical Indian tabla, maritime chanteys, timber-framed barn building, and Puerto Rican Santos de Palo carving.

The Connecticut Museum manages the program in collaboration with the Mass Cultural Council, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, the Afro Caribbean Cultural Center, and independent folklorist Winifred Lambrecht. This program is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and is supported by the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, the Connecticut Office of the Arts (DECD), and CT Humanities.

The application deadline is July 31, 2024, with assistance and draft review available through July 26. For questions regarding the application process contact Philitha Stemplys-Cowdrey, SNEAP Manager, at pstemplys-cowdrey@connecticutmuseum.org. Interested individuals can learn more and how to apply at connecticutmuseum.org/apprenticeship, and in Spanish at connecticutmuseum.org/aprendizaje.

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About the Connecticut Museum:

The Connecticut Museum of Culture and History is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1825 as the state’s premier historical society. Serving as the state’s home for folk and traditional arts support since 2015, the Museum collaborates with artists, artisans, and culture-keepers from diverse backgrounds to document, present, and sustain important traditions, art forms, knowledge, and lifeways belonging to the communities who practice them. Located at One Elizabeth Street in Hartford, the Museum houses exhibitions, a library, a research center, and a vast collection that includes more than 4 million manuscripts, graphics, objects, and artifacts. The Museum strives to cultivate deep understanding of the history and culture of Connecticut, and its role in the United States and the world, through reflection of the past, active engagement with the present, and innovation for the future through our collections, research, educational programs, and exhibitions. To learn more about our ongoing exhibitions and programs, please visit: connecticutmuseum.org.

Media Contact
Samantha Skeels
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sskeels@connecticutmuseum.org
860-969-6089 x5