A guitar player with a friendly smile, wearing a festive hat and a traditional serape shawl.
Oregon Culture Keepers Roster
About the Oregon Culture Keepers Roster

Search the online Oregon Culture Keepers Roster—an ever-expanding, juried selection of folk and traditional artists—and connect with cultural experts documented through our regional surveys and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program.

Rostered artists and culture keepers can provide educational presentations, hands-on demonstrations, or performances to a variety of audiences. We recommend a fee of at least $250 plus travel expenses unless otherwise noted, for such appearances. We do not serve as a booking agent, so please contact the artists directly.

Search the roster by county or keyword to find

  • highly skilled traditional artists for your classroom,
  • storytellers for your library event,
  • cultural experts for your humanities program,
  • performers for your festival stage, or
  • craft artists for demonstrations.

Check back often—we regularly add new folk and traditional artists!

Apply

Interested in applying to be on the roster?

First, review OFN’s definition of a Culture Keeper:

  • A Culture Keeper is a folk or traditional artist, who actively practices, passes on, and preserves the living cultural traditions of the cultural community to which they belong and is recognized by that community. Folk and traditional arts do not include folk-inspired art, which is produced by individuals and groups who are not part of the cultural community that originally produced/created/developed the art form, even if the quality of the art is excellent.

Second, fill out and send in the application form and all required work samples.

Or contact us at 541-346-3820 | ofn@uoregon.edu for assistance.

Found 35 profiles.
Monica Moreno stands in front of a pink wall wearing a red shirt and holding a pink piñata and decorated sugar skull.
Monica Moreno
Piñata and Sugar Skull Making
Monica Moreno (Portland) is a fabricante del piñatas y las calaveras de azúcar (maker of piñatas and sugar skulls). Moreno started making piñatas in elementary school, in her hometown of Mexico City. She now owns a Mexican party shop in the Portland Mercado on SE Foster, where her handmade creations adorn the ceiling.
Nisha Joshi poses against a white wall, wearing a blue and gold sari.
Nisha Joshi
Rajastani Folk Songs
Nisha Joshi (Portland) is a traditional Rajasthani folk song artist. These folk songs describe the daily life of villagers, nature, religion, and festivals in the Indian state of Rajasthan. A Master Artist with the Oregon Folklife Network’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program in 2012 Joshi runs the Portland based Swaranjali Academy of Indian Music, and teaches vocal, harmonium, sitar, and tabla lessons from her home.
Norman Sylvester stands in front of a white wall with two hanging picture frames. He wears a blue collared shirt and blue fedora.
Norman Sylvester
Rhythm and Blues Music
Norman Sylvester (Portland) plays R & B music, and comes from a small town in Louisiana, where his father sang in a gospel quartet, The Spiritual Five. Sylvester grew up singing in church choirs and later learned to play the guitar from Isaac Scott in Portland. His band, The Norman Sylvester Band, has been a mainstay in the region’s R&B scene for more than 30 years.
Members of the Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association dance together in a room with white walls and a large blue tapestry that says "Northwest Tibetan Cultural".
Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association
Tibetan Dance Group
The Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association (Portland) is a non-profit organization with the mission of preserving and promoting the rich cultural traditions and values of Tibet. A key part of Tibetan culture is dance, and the organization has both children’s and adults’ dance groups. Folk musicians play traditional Tibetan music on native instruments while dancing with the groups.
Prajwal R. Vajracharya sits indoors in front of a red couch with decorative pillows. He wears a gray long sleeved shirt.
Prajwal R. Vajracharya
Buddhist Dance
Prajwal R. Vajracharya (Portland) carries on the tradition of a thousand-year old Buddhist worship dance with origins in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. For many years, the dance was passed down in secret from generation to generation; only recently has Vajracharya’s father allowed it to be performed in public and by people from outside of his family.
Secret Bryant stands in her Portland studio, "Southern Styles & Barber," braiding pink extensions. She is wearing a black shirt, a black apron, and a black bonnet with a flower on it.
Secret Bryant
Hair Braiding
Secret Bryant (Portland) is a traditional African American hair stylist and hair braider. Every workday, she braids cornrows, box braids, extensions, and more. She learned hair-braiding techniques at her mother’s knee.
Shirod Younker stands next to a large yellow and red painting with a wooden canoe oar. He is wearing a gray vest, a black long-sleeved shirt, dark blue jeans, and a black hat.
Shirod Younker
Canoe Paddle Carving
Shirod Younker, Upper Coquille and Miluk Coos tribes, (Portland) carves canoe paddles that closely follow his ancestors’ traditions. This work inspired his tribe to construct traditional canoes and participate in the annual Tribal Canoe Journey. Younker manages an artists-in-residence program for Native American teens at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts.
A photo of Tetyana Horner with her loom
Tetyana Horner (Bondarchuk)
Ukrainian Weaving
Tetyana Horner (Bondarchuk) (Portland) is a traditional Ukrainian weaver from Nova Kakhovka (a city in the south of Ukraine). Following in the footsteps of her grandmother, who was a traditional weaver, Horner practices a variety of Ukrainian weaving techniques, teaches workshops on the tradition, and participates in initiatives that support Ukraine.
Tulehoidjad pose in front of a Scandinavian boat. They are wearing traditional embroidered outfits.
Tulehoidjad
Estonian Folk Dance
Tulehoidjad (Portland), an Estonian folk dance troupe, has kept Estonian folk dances alive in the region for four generations. In 1950, Lehti Merilo founded the group, and her daughter, Liina Teose, has directed the group since 1985. Tulehoidjad performs a wide range of Estonian dances including circle, line, and partner dances.
Michelle Fujii and Toru Watanabe pose against a black background. They both wear black robes with kanji characters on them.
Unit Souzou
Japanese Taiko Drumming
Unit Souzou (Portland) is a Japanese taiko drum group that draws its name from the Japanese word souzou, meaning imagination, creation, and noisy. Michelle Fujii and Toru Watanabe formed the group in 2014. Unit Souzou currently has a professional performance team with several taiko specialists and a community performance group.
Wambui Machua poses in front of a white wall. She is wearing a turquoise patterned outfit and a large necklace.
Wambui Machua
Kenyan Foodways
Wambui Machua (Portland/Beaverton) is a Kenyan chef and owner of Spice of Africa, a Portland-based African restaurant. Born in Nairobi, Kenya and of Kikiyu heritage, Machua learned to cook from the matriarchs of her family. Today she teaches African cooking classes, caters, sells food at markets, and funds charitable projects in Kenya.
Members of Weaving Together sit together in a room on blue chairs.
Weaving Together
Karen Backstrap Loom Weaving
“Weaving Together—The Karen Women of Portland” (Portland) is a group of refugee women weavers from the eastern border regions of Myanmar (formerly Burma). As young children, these Karen women learned to weave on backstrap looms. The Karen Women of Portland find that this traditional activity provides a source of income and helps them adapt to their lives in Oregon.
Yat Sing Music Club practice together, holding a variety of instruments including strings, prass, and percussion. Two people stand at the front of the room in front of music stands.
Yat Sing Music Club
Cantonese Opera
Yat Sing Music Club (Portland) is a group of Cantonese opera singers. Founded in 1942, the group still rehearses twice a week in Portland’s Old Town. The group once produced complete Cantonese operas with traditional costumes and a full cast of characters, but eventually scaled down their performances. Yat Sing Music Club performs parts of operas for public events and private parties.
Yingwana Khosa demonstrates South African drumming. He is wearing an olive green outfit shirt and pants and a black beanie.
Yingwana Khosa
South African Dance and Drumming
Yingwana Khosa (Portland) is a traditional Tsongan dancer and drummer originally from Soweto. At 10, Khosa began studying drum and dance with the Mzumba Dance Troupe, a dance company that performs traditional drumming and dancing from tribes all over South Africa. He has also performed with the Ringling Brothers.
A Japanese woman wearing a plum colored blouse folds a blue piece of paper
Yuki Martin
Origami Artist
Yuki Martin (Washougal, WA/Portland, OR) is an origami artist, instructor, and writer. Since 2007, Yuki has taught, demonstrated, and presented origami at a multitude of community venues throughout Oregon and Washington. She is also the author of Super Cute Origami Kit: Kawaii Paper Projects You Can Decorate in Thousands of Ways!, which won the 2019 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award Bronze Medal.

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