The awards and special recognition are part of the LDOA's Artist Programs, which include Artist Fellowships, State Artist Roster and the Crafts Marketing Program. The Artist Fellowship provides direct monetary support to artists, while the State Artist Roster and the Crafts Marketing Program are promotional programs. The Crafts Marketing Program provides marketing assistance to craftsmen working in contemporary, revivalist or traditional crafts.
Selection is based on quality of skill, creativity and marketability of the craft.
The State Artist Roster is a list of accomplished artists who are outstanding representitives of their artistic disciplines. The artist programs, she adds, provide the state with a mechanism to acknowledge some of the enormously gifted people who are creating first-rate art in Louisiana communities. This is our way of saying 'thank you' to these artists in particular and to all artists in general for the important, though often unheralded, contributions they make to our culture, our economy and to our quality of life. A detailed list of the artists selected for each program is attached. The next application deadline for artist programs is September 1, 1998.