NEA awards National Heritage Fellowships

WASHINGTON, June 3 (UPI) -- The National Endowment for the Arts has announced the recipients of its 2004 National Heritage Fellowships that honor folk and traditional arts.

NEA Chairman Dana Gioia said Wednesday the art created by the recipients is "a testament to the diversity and exceptional quality of America's artistic resources." Each award is for $20,000, to be shared in the case of joint awards.

The winners are Charles T. Campbell, gospel steel guitar player of Rochester, N. Y.; Jerry Douglas, dobro player of Nashville, Tenn.; Eliseo and Paula Rodriguez, straw applique artists of Santa Fe, N. M.; Joe Derrane, Irish-American button accordionist of Randolph, Mass.; and Anjani Ambegaokar, North Indian Kathak Dancer of Diamond Bar, Calif.

Also Gerald Miller, Skokomish oral-tradition story teller, carver, and basket maker of Shelton, Wash.; Milan Opacich, tamburitza instrument maker of Shererville, Ind.; Koko Taylor, blues musician of Country Club Hills, Ill.; Yuqin Wang and Zhengli Xu, Chinese rod puppeteers of Aloha, Ore.; and Chum Ngek, Cambodian musician and teacher of Gaithersburg, Md.

Ngek also won the Bess Lomax Hawes award for service to folk and traditional arts.