The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes congratulates Hayden Haynes and Richard Koski for being named 2021 NYSCA/ NYFA Artist Fellows in the category of Folk and Traditional Arts.
Hayden Haynes is a Seneca bone, antler and stone carver living in Cattaraugus, NY. His carvings are, in his words, “an expression of Haudenosuanee (Iroquois) life today, showing where we come from, where we are today, and where we are going. Using this ancient medium of antlers/bone, I sometimes shed light on contemporary issues.” Hayden was a teaching artist with The ARTS Council in 2020 as part of the Culture, Community and the Classroom program, completing a virtual residency in a middle school classroom at Corning-Painted Post school district.
Richard Koski is a master artist and button accordionist from Trumansburg, NY that specializes in the Finnish-American traditional music played in Finnish communities in the Finger Lakes from 1910 to the present. In 2018, Richard received a NYSCA Folk Arts Apprenticeship grant to teach next generation Finnish musician Michael Ludgate and Katrina Mackey how to play many of these tunes, passing them on to the next generation. Richard has performed for The ARTS Council many times over the years at the Old Time Fiddlers Gathering and at Music in the Square.
The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship is a $7,000 unrestricted cash grant available to artists living in New York State and/or one of the Indian Nations located therein. This grant is awarded in fifteen different disciplines over a three-year period (five categories a year) and the application is free to complete. The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship is not a project grant, but is intended to fund an artist’s vision or voice at all levels of their artistic development.
