The MSU Museum announces honorees in two programs celebrating heritage and culture in the state: the 2014 Michigan Heritage Awards and the 2014 Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program recipients.
The Michigan Heritage Award is the state’s highest distinction to honor individuals who continue family, community and cultural traditions with excellence and devotion.
"The Michigan Heritage Awards are presented each year to honor master practitioners in Michigan who continue the folk traditions of their families and communities through practice and teaching," said curator of folk arts at the MSU Museum and coordinator of the MHA program Marsha MacDowell.
Receiving a 2014 Michigan Heritage Award for their traditional arts achievements are: Karl Byarski, of Kinde, Mich., for contributions in documenting and collecting of traditional music and stories in Michigan’s Thumb region; Danny Johnston, of Harbor Springs, Mich., for contributions in Michigan fiddling traditions; and Alan Lomax, for Michigan oral histories and traditional music documentation.
The recipients of the 2014 Michigan Heritage Awards will be recognized at a public ceremony at the Great Lakes Folk Festival, produced Aug. 8-10 by the MSU Museum in downtown East Lansing.