Claude Stephenson, Folk Arts

Claude Stephenson, Folk Arts Coordinator and the State Folklorist, also serves as the ADA Coordinator. Claude currently sits on the New Mexico Music Commission and the New Mexico Centennial Steering Committee. He also manages the New Mexico component of the National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces program. He has been with New Mexico Arts since 1991.

Claude obtained his Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of New Mexico in 2001. He grew up in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and outside of a year stay in Washington, DC, has lived in Albuquerque since 1970. Claude is an avid musician and award winning mandolin player. He and his wife live in an old adobe down by the river in the South Valley where they grow lots of vegetables.