9 Folk Artists Honored With National Fellowships

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nine artists have been given the nation's highest honor for folk and traditional arts.

The National Endowment for the Arts announced its 2016 National Heritage Fellows this week. They will be recognized at a concert Sunday at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall and again at an awards ceremony in September.

The fellows each get a $25,000 cash prize.

Performers at Sunday's concert will include past recipients of the NEA heritage fellowship.

This year's recipients are: Brian Akipa of Sisseton, South Dakota; Joseph Pierre Boudreaux of New Orleans; Billy McComiskey of Baltimore; Artemio Posadas of San Jose, California; Clarissa Rizal of Juneau, Alaska; Theresa Secord of Waterville, Maine; Bounzeung Synanonh of Fresno, California; Michael Vlahovich of Tacoma, Washington; and Leona Waddell of Cecilia, Kentucky.