Alaska

Alaska Native Curriculum and Teacher Development Project involves educators across the state to develop and publish online curriculum and resources related to indigenous culture.

Alaska Native Heritage Center is a cultural center and museum that celebrates, perpetuates, and shares Alaska Native cultures. Find Alaska FAQs for students and other education resources. Contact: 8800 Heritage Center Dr., Anchorage, AK 99504, 907/330-8000, info@alaskanative.net.

Alaska Native Knowledge Network offers a wealth of resources on Alaska Native knowledge systems and ways of knowing, including the Culturally Responsive Education Standards.

Alaska State Council on the Arts has a Native Arts Program. Contact: 411 W. 4th Ave., Suite 1E, Anchorage, AK 99501, 907/269-6610.

LitSite Alaska is an online magazine and gathering place for readers and writers of all ages.

California

Aesop's Fables includes text and audio renditions of over 600 fables and allows visitors to interact by ask questions and contribute parables.

Alliance for California Traditional Arts networks and coordinates statewide information about folk and traditional artists, arts administrators, and researchers. Contact: 1245 Van Ness, Fresno, CA 93721, 559/237-9812, info@actaonline.org.

Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay offers student tours. The web site shares poetry carved by Chinese detainees on walls of the immigration station.

University of California at Berkeley Folklore Program offers an MA in Folklore. Contact: the Masters Program in Folklore, Department of Anthropology, 232 Kroeber Hall, #3710, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3710, 510/642-3406.

University of California at Los Angeles Department of World Art and Cultures  offers an MA or PhD in this interdepartmental program.

Colorado

Colorado Creative Industries Cultural Heritage Program features the online statewide Ties That Bind folk arts education guide.

Hawaii

State Foundation on Culture and the Arts has no folk arts coordinator. Contact: 250 South Hotel St., 2nd Fl., Honolulu, HI 96813, 808/586-0300.

Idaho

Basque Museum and Cultural Center offers Basque language and dance classes as well as a digital curriculum guide. Contact: Patty Miller, 611 Grove St., Boise, ID 83702, 208/343-2671, pattyam@basquemuseum.com.

Idaho Arts Commission Folk Arts Program features an online regional folk artist guide and other resources. Contact: Maria Carmen Gambliel, 2410 N. Old Penitentiary Rd., Boise, ID 83712, 208/334-2119, mgambliel@arts.idaho.gov.

Montana

Montana Arts Council Folk Arts Program can identify artists for school programs. Contact: Cindy Kitteridge, P.O. Box 202201, Helena, MT 59620, 406/444-6430, elkittredge@dishmail.net.

Montana Heritage Project hosts a web site offering articles, photos, and teacher and student writing.

Nebraska

Nebraska Folklife Network is a statewide nonprofit that has developed traveling cultural trunks for schools and the online unit, "By Heart." Reserve trunks through the Nebraska Humanities Council. Contact Gwen Meister, 5620 Hunts Dr., Lincoln, NE 68512, 402/420-5442, info@nefolklife.org.

Nevada

Nevada Arts Council Folklife Program provides technical assistance and resources for educators, including an online folk artist roster and the Folk Arts Education Guide. Contact: Pat Atkinson, 716 N. Carson St., Suite A, Carson City, NV 89701, 775/687-7103, patkinson@nevadaculture.org.

Western Folklife Center documents, preserves, and presents traditional culture of the West. In addition to radio programs, recordings, and exhibits, the Center produces the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering each January. Contact: 501 Railroad St., Elko, NV 89801, 775/738-7508, wfc@westernfolklife.org.

New Mexico

New Mexico Arts Folk Arts Program supports documentation, apprenticeships, and workshops related to local and folk art traditions. Contact: Claude Stephenson, Bataan Memorial Building, 407 Galisteo St., Suite 270, Santa Fe, NM 87501, 505/827-6490.

Museum of International Folk Art online exhibits and teaching guides span from Tibetan culture to making art with recycled materials. Contact: Aurelia Gomez, Museum Hill, 706 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505, 505/ 476-1200, Agomez@moifa.org.

North Dakota

North Dakota Council on the Arts Folk Arts Program provides education resources and outreach. Contact: Troyd Geist, 1600 E. Century Ave., Bismarck, ND 58503, 701/328-7591, tgeist@nd.gov. With North Dakota State University Professor Emeritus Timothy Kloberdanz, Troyd Geist has compiled and edited a beautiful new book with hundreds of entries and images. Sundogs and Sunflowers: Folklore and Folk Art of the Northern Great Plains includes the work of many people over 30 years. To order, contact 701/328-7590 or comserv@nd.gov and to view a video promotion click here. NDCA documentaries produced in partnership with Prairie Public Broadcasting, the Bush Foundation, and the Spirit Room Gallery include lesson plans based on state standards and benchmarks. Schools and teachers are encouraged also to use these documentaries, lesson plans, and featured artists and the Artist-in-Residence and Teacher Incentive grant programs. Titles include A Lyrical Life: The Struggle and Hope of South Sudan, Turtle and Pretty Crane with Keith Bear, The Woman Who Turned Herself into Stone with Mary Louise Defender Wilson (see her Local Learning Artist Residency), and God Given: Cultural Treasures of Armenia.

Utah

Utah Arts Council no longer has a folk arts program. The arts education program continues to support traditional artists. Contact: Jean Irwin, 617 E. South Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84102, 801/236-7556, jirwin@utah.gov.

Utah State University Folklore Program offers a BA or MA in folklore. The Fife Folklore Archive is among the largest in the country. See the online Folklife and Folk Art Education Resource Guide.

Washington

Washington State Arts Commission Folk Arts Program houses resources including Gritos del Alma and Spirit of the First People. The program has a series of cultural and historical guided tours for different regions of the state. Contact: Willie Smyth, 711 Capitol Way S., Suite 600, 98501, 360/586-2856, willies@arts.wa.gov.

Northwest Folklife produces a major annual festival in Seattle every Memorial Day weekend and offers educational resources and workshops. Contact: 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109, 206/684-7300, education@nwfolklife.org.

Northwest Heritage Resources documents cultural traditions of the Pacific Northwest. Education resources include an online social studies guide tied to state middle school standards, King County and Western Washington Cultural Geography, Communities, Their History and Traditions. Contact: Jill Linzee, 206/306-1181, info@NorthwestHeritageResources.org.

The Telling Takes Us Home offers online family story radio programs produced by Joe McHugh and Raven Radio Theater.

Wyoming

University of Wyoming American Studies Program has a folklife specialist. Contact: Andrea Graham, Dept. 4036, 1000 E. University Ave., Laramie WY 82071, 307/766-3860, agraha12@uwyo.edu.

Wyoming Arts Council Folk Arts Program identifies resources for educators. Contact: Annie Hatch, 2320 Capitol Ave., Cheyenne, WY 82002, 307/777-7721, ahatch@state.wy.us.