The work of the Traditional Arts Program is based in large part in urban ethnography--fieldwork carried out in diverse Bay Area communities. TAP staff members research folk traditions in order to identify artists who might be interested in sharing their cultural knowledge with the public as part of our series of folk arts programs. In-depth ethnographic research may become part of a TAP publication.

In addition to our local research, as staff members of the Department of Anthropology at the California Academy of Sciences, we also conduct ethnographic fieldwork elsewhere in the world. Our documentation of the cultural traditions, artistry, and folklife of diverse communities takes several forms: we keep a visual record through slide photography; we take notes from our observations; and we conduct interviews. The information thus assembled becomes part of the Academy's ethnographic archive and is used in preparing publications on folk art and related topics and in creating scholarly and educational materials for the general public.