Dancers, musicians, storytellers and occupational artists from all over the country are being recognized for their work in the folk and traditional arts and are winning awards for their achievements.

“The individuals are not well-known outside their community,” said Marsha MacDowell, co-curator of the exhibit. “(The intention of our exhibit) is to shine a light on these individuals.”

Joe Foster, a history education junior who works for the MSU Museum, said it’s important to display the exhibit because it touches on diverse ways to educate. As a future educator, Foster said the exhibit would be especially beneficial to younger ages because of the exposure to such levels of diversity.

“It’s a very culturally diverse exhibit,” Foster said. “You are encased with visuals of distinct cultures. For younger generations, visual is better.

“It’s nice to see that the museum takes pride in expressing diverse cultures, ” Foster said.

Holt resident Kathy Whitford said viewing the exhibit is especially important to students.

“Students (today) are far removed from cultures,” Whitford said. “And this exhibit introduces those different cultures to them.”

MacDowell said the touch screen text panels found throughout the exhibit serve as prompts for people to think about who is an exceptional practitioner in their life.

Each person displayed in the exhibit is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship, a folk and traditional arts honor.

MacDowell said the fellowship is one of the nation’s highest art awards. People are nominated for these awards by their peers living in their communities.

This is the first place the “Extraordinary Ordinary People” exhibit is being shown nationally. MacDowell said she wants visitors from all over to think about the puzzle pieces that fit into their own cultural heritage.

“We hope the exhibit encourages people to think about what practices they value, and what makes them who they are,” MacDowell said.