Clifford Murphy is the new director of the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

A career academic and public servant, Murphy will assume his new position April 10.

Secretary Bunch announced today that Clifford Murphy, currently the director of folk and traditional arts at the National Endowment for the Arts, will join the Smithsonian next month as the director of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

At NEA, Murphy manages a grant portfolio of $4 million in Grants for Arts Projects, Folk Arts Partnerships, the National Heritage Fellowships and the National Folklife Network. He formulates policy and develops guidelines and criteria to serve national strategies in folklife and cultural heritage programs, research and curation. In addition, Murphy serves as the agency’s point of contact for Tribal Consultation, providing national leadership to develop short-term and long-term goals for the field of folklife, cultural heritage and Native arts.

Murphy has published three books, four book chapters and seven articles on vernacular music and culture, applied ethnomusicology and public folklore. He also has recorded, released and co-produced 13 full-length albums of original music as a member of an Americana rock band and as a solo artist. Murphy also launched and produced the Maryland Traditions Folklife Festival from 2011 to 2015 and co-produced features on Maryland folklife for public radio.

Previously, Murphy was the director of Maryland Traditions at the Maryland State Arts Council and an adjunct professor of American studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Gettysburg College and master’s and doctoral degrees in ethnomusicology from Brown University.

“As an educator, public servant and musician, Cliff has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to preserving and promoting the world’s rich cultural traditions,” said Secretary Bunch. “His experience will serve him well as director of the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, where he aims to elevate awareness of living traditions across the U.S. and the globe and demonstrate how integral these traditions are to the cultural moments that take place today.

“I also would like to take this opportunity to thank Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian’s distinguished scholar and ambassador-at-large, who has been serving as interim director of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage,” Bunch continued. “Please join me in welcoming Cliff Murphy to his new role at the Smithsonian.”

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