Building community
through living traditions
Ted Warmbrand at the 2026 Culture Keepers Awards. Photo by Julius Schlosburg.
We believe that culture is not a backdrop to community life. Culture helps people make sense of the world, care for one another, and build a shared future.
We build more equitable and vibrant communities by celebrating the everyday expressions of culture, heritage, and diversity rooted in the Greater Southwest and U.S.-Mexico Border Corridor.
Josefina Lizarraga, 2020 Master-Apprentice Artist Awardee photo by Steven Meckler
From Adiba Nelson’s “Where Seldom Is Heard a Discouraging Word,” Borderlore, March 2025. Photo by Eryka Dellenbach
We center traditional knowledge, equity, and collaboration to amplify cultural work that is shaped by the people who live and carry on traditions.
In 2025
65+
Cultures Uplifted
750+
Artists
Supported
110,000+
People Connected
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Southwest Folklife Alliance is an affiliate of the University of Arizona, funded by a mixture of grants, corporate sponsors and individual gifts. Become a part of the team!
