Iowa: Iowa Folklife Volume II Web Site & Educational Packets

The Iowa Arts Council (IAC) has introduced two new curriculum-based learning tools that focus on folklife and traditional arts and artists. The first program, Iowa Folklife Volume II is a Web resource that builds on the success of Iowa Folklife: Our People, Communities and Traditions. IAC worked with the University of Northern Iowa, folk artists and their communities to produce Iowa Folklife Volume II. Students and educators can explore Iowa’s Vietnamese, Lao, Danish, Asian Indian and Meskwaki cultures as well as Latino, gospel, old time, polka and blues music. The site includes lesson plans, photos, audio samples, videos and suggested readings.

The second program, “Influence and Inspiration: Iowa’s Cultural and Artistic Legacy Evolves,” is an educational packet for Iowa teachers and students. The packet, which will be available to educators in December, was designed by a group of multigrade-level educators and contains DVDs of contemporary, folk and traditional artists; images of each artist’s work; lesson plans that adhere to national and Iowa education standards; artists’ biographies; and Web and print resources related to each artist.

For more information about the on-line folklife curricula, contact IAC Folklife Coordinator Rachelle H. Saltzman, Ph.D. For information about “Influence and Inspiration” packets, contact IAC Arts Programmer Sarah Ekstrand.