ACTA
For Debbie and Natalie, learning begins long before a basket takes shape. Their apprenticeship in Hoopa–Yurok basket weaving moves through the full cycle of the work together: walking the land to identify plants, gathering at the right season, preparing roots and fibers by hand, and slowly weaving ceremonial pieces intended for world renewal ceremonies.
Debbie, who has gathered and woven since childhood, shares knowledge shaped by family teachings and lived experience. At this time, working alongside Natalie invites reflection and renewal in her own practice. In this shared practice, learning becomes care for the land and materials, care for ceremony, language, and prayer, and care for one another. Teaching deepens Debbie’s own practice, reinforcing that weaving is not only about technique, but also about balance, responsibility, and carrying knowledge forward with intention.
Learning as Care through ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program
Stories like Deborah and Natalie’s reflect how learning happens in community, over time, and through relationship. Across California, ACTA works with artists and culture bearers whose deep knowledge is rooted in place, family, and lived experience. Learning unfolds slowly through shared practice, listening, and care for both people and tradition.
Through ACTA’s Apprenticeship Program, we help make this transmission possible. We support mentor artists and apprentices as they learn together across generations and geographies. These one-to-one relationships focus on continuity rather than production. This is Learning as Care, where knowledge moves forward because it is tended with patience, trust, and responsibility.
Support the Care That Learning Requires
As we close the year, we invite you to support learning rooted in relationship and care. Your gift helps ACTA continue supporting traditional artists as they carry cultural knowledge forward to the next generation.
To honor this shared commitment, we are offering a limited-edition Canciones del San Joaquín vinyl record as a gift of gratitude for contributions of $300 or more. Each record carries the sounds and stories of the Central Valley, reflecting how care lives in what we learn and how we pass it on.
Click the “Give Today” button below to make a tax-deductible contribution.
Or you can send a check to:
Alliance for California Traditional Arts
744 P Street, Suite 307
Fresno, CA 93721
Contact:
Amy Kitchener, Executive Director
[email protected]
Join ACTA in listening, transforming, and learning as care
To celebrate this shared commitment, we’re offering a limited-edition Canciones del San Joaquín vinyl record as a gift of gratitude for contributions of $300 or more.
