1989 •
Dorothy Auman and
Walter Auman, potters (
Randolph County, NC) •
Etta Baker (1913–2006),
Piedmont blues guitarist and singer (
Burke County, NC) •
Thomas Burt (1900-1990),
Piedmont blues guitarist, banjoist, and singer (
Durham County, NC) •
Thomas Hunter (1919-1993), fiddler (
Madison County, NC) •
Emma Taylor (1920-2002), basketmaker (
Qualla Boundary) •
Doug Wallin (1919-2000), ballad singer (
Madison County, NC) •
Eva Wolfe (1922-2004), Cherokee basketmaker (
Qualla Boundary)
1990 •
The Badgett Sisters, gospel singers (
Caswell County, NC) •
Walker Calhoun (1918-2012), Cherokee musician and dancer (
Qualla Boundary) •
Earnest East (1916-2000), fiddler (
Surry County, NC) •
Benton Flippen (b. 1920), fiddler (
Surry County, NC) •
Wilma McNabb (d. 1991), weaver (
Cherokee County, NC) •
Dellie Norton (1898-1993), ballad singer (
Madison County, NC) •
Sallie Parnell (1887-1994), rag-rug weaver (
Davidson County, NC)
1991 •
Effie Rhodes Bell, quilter (
Pender County, NC) •
Lela Brooks, Tobacco twine crocheter (
Robeson County, NC) •
Burlon Craig (1914-2002), potter in the style of
Catawba Valley Pottery (
Lincoln County, NC) •
Menhaden Chanteymen, performers of worksongs (
Carteret County, NC) •
Hazel Rhodes Reece (1925-2015), quilter (
Onslow County, NC) •
Quay Smathers (1913-1997), shape note singer and teacher (
Haywood County, NC) •
Thurman Strickland, basketmaker (
Johnston County, NC) •
Joe Thompson (musician) (1918-2012), fiddler (
Alamance County, NC) •
Odell Thompson, fiddler (
Alamance County, NC)
1992 •
Obadiah Carter (1925-1994), R & B musician •
Bertie Dickens (1902-1994), old-time banjo player (
Alleghany County, NC) •
Emma Dupree (1897-1996), herbalist and healer (
Pitt County, NC) •
The "5" Royales, R & B musicians (
Forsyth County, NC) •
Leonard Glenn (1910-1997), banjo and dulcimer maker (
Watauga County, NC) •
Ray Hicks (1922-2003), storyteller (
Watauga County, NC) •
Algia Mae Hinton (1929-2018), blues guitarist and buck dancer (
Johnston County, NC) •
Lauchlin Shaw (1912-2000), fiddler (
Harnett County, NC) •
A. C. Overton (1926-2007), old-time banjo player (
Wake County, NC)
1993 •
Louise Anderson (1921-1994), storyteller (
Onslow County, NC) •
Julian Guthrie (1914-1998), boatbuilder (
Carteret County, NC) •
Bea Hensley (1919-2013), blacksmith (
Mitchell County, NC) •
George Higgs (1930-2013), blues musician (
Edgecombe County, NC) •
Mary Jane Queen (1914-2007), ballad singer (
Jackson County, NC) •
George SerVance, Jr., woodcarver (
Davidson County, NC) •
Luke Smathers (1914-1997), stringband musician (
Haywood County, NC) •
Harold Smathers (1911-1995), stringband musician (
Haywood County, NC)
1994 •
Carroll Best (1931-1995), banjo player (
Haywood County, NC) •
Aaron Buff (1911-1994), chair maker (
Burke County, NC) •
Robert Dotson (1923-2015),
flatfoot dancer (
Watauga County, NC) •
Myrtle Dotson (1921-2008), flatfoot dancer (
Watauga County, NC) •
John Dee Holeman (1929-2021), blues guitarist and buck dancer (
Durham County, NC) •
Quentin "Fris" Holloway (1918-2008), bluesman and buck dancer (
Durham County, NC) •
Vernon Owens (b.1941), potter (
Moore County, NC) •
Amanda Swimmer (1921-2018), potter (
Qualla Boundary) •
Elsie Trivette, rug maker (
Watauga County, NC) •
Doc Watson (1923-2012), guitarist and traditional singer, and the
Watson Family (
Watauga County, NC)
1995 •
The Branchettes:
Lenna Mae Perry (b. 1940) and
Ethel Elliot (d. 2004), gospel singers (
Wake County, NC and
Harnett County, NC) •
Raymond Coins (1904-1998), stone and wood carver (
Stokes County, NC) •
Homer Fulcher (1918-1995) and
Julian Hamilton, Jr. (1925-2000), decoy carvers (
Carteret County, NC) •
Big Boy Henry (1921-2004), blues guitarist and singer (
Carteret County, NC) •
Virgil Ledford (b. 1940), woodcarver (
Qualla Boundary) •
Jim Shumate (1921-2013), bluegrass fiddler (
Catawba County, NC) •
Ora Watson (1911-2008), fiddler (
Watauga County, NC)
1996 •
Robert H. Bushyhead (1914-2016), storyteller and language preservationist (
Qualla Boundary) •
Verlen Clifton (1928-2020) and
Paul Sutphin (1918-2003), stringband players and singers (
Surry County, NC) •
Nell Cole Graves (1908-1997), potter (
Randolph County, NC) •
Elizabeth "Lee" Graham Jacobs (1909-2000), quilter (
Columbus County, NC) •
Dock Rmah,
Jarai traditional musician (
Guilford County, NC) •
Earl Scruggs (1924-2012), banjo player (
Cleveland County, NC)
1998 •
Bessie Killens Eldreth (1913-2016), traditional singer (
Watauga County, NC) •
Louise Bigmeat Maney (1932-2001), potter (
Qualla Boundary) •
Smith McInnis (1914-2011), Fiddler (
Hoke County, NC) •
Ossie Clark Phillips (1915-1998), weaver (
Avery County, NC) •
Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith (1921-2014), traditional musician and composer (
Mecklenburg County, NC) •
Arliss Watford (1924-1998), woodcarver (
Hertford County, NC) •
The Wilson Brothers, gospel singers (
Swain County, NC)
2000 •
Rev. Faircloth Barnes (1929-2011), gospel singer and preacher (
Nash County, NC) •
Amanda Crowe (1928–2004), Cherokee wood carver (
Qualla Boundary) •
Marvin Gaster (1934-2022), old-time banjo player (
Lee County, NC) •
Bobby McMillon (1951-2021), traditional singer and storyteller (
Caldwell County, NC) •
Melvin Lee Owens (c. 1929-2015), potter (
Randolph County, NC) •
James Allen Rose (1935-2013), model boat builder (
Carteret County, NC)
2003 •
The Briarhoppers, bluegrass musicians (
Mecklenburg County, NC) •
Celia Cole Perkinson (1924-2015) and
Neolia Cole Womack (1927-2016), potters (
Lee County, NC) •
Emmet Parker Jones (1914-2008), wheelwright (
Chowan County, NC) •
Bishop Dready Manning (b. 1934), gospel musician (
Halifax, NC) •
Oscar "Red" Wilson (1920-2005), stringband musician (
Mitchell County, NC) •
Jerry Wolfe (1924-2018), stickball carver (
Qualla Boundary)
2007 •
Walter and Ray Davenport, fishermen and net makers (
Tyrrell County, NC) •
Mike Harman, weaver (
Watauga County, NC) •
Orville Hicks, storyteller (
Watauga County, NC) •
Senora Lynch (b. 1963), potter (
Warren County, NC) •
George Shuffler (1925-2014), bluegrass and southern gospel musician (
Burke County, NC)
2014 •
Bobby Hicks (b. 1933), fiddle player (
Madison County, NC) •
Susan Morgan Leveille (b. 1949), weaver (
Jackson County, NC) •
Sid Luck (b. c. 1945), potter (
Moore County, NC) •
Bill Myers, jazz saxophonist and educator (
Wilson County, NC) •
Arnold Richardson (b. c. 1938), Haliwa-Saponi artist (
Halifax County, NC)
2016 •
Sheila Kay Adams (b. 1953), ballad singer, storyteller (
Madison County, NC) •
H. Ju Nie (1944-2021) and
H. Ngach Rahlan,
Montagnard-Dega weavers (
Guilford County, NC) •
James Lewis,
Jamie Lewis, and
Houston Lewis, boat builders (
Carteret County, NC) •
Maceo Parker (b. 1943), funk musician (
Lenoir County, NC) •
Marc Pruett (b. 1951), banjo (
Haywood County, NC)
2018 •
Asha Bala, Performer and instructor of South Indian dance (
Wake County, NC) •
Glenn & Lula Bolick, Potters, musicians, and storytellers (
Watauga County, NC) •
Arvil Freeman (1932-2021), Western North Carolina fiddler (
Madison County, NC) •
Robert "Dick" Knight (b. 1950), Soul, R&B, and jazz trumpet player (
Lenoir County, NC) •
Tony Williamson, Multi-genre mandolinist rooted in bluegrass (
Chatham County, NC)
2023 •
Richard Bowman, old-time fiddler (
Surry County, NC) •
Cornelio Campos (b. 1971), painter and muralist (
Durham County, NC) •
Butch Goings, woodcarver (
Qualla Boundary) •
Louise Goings (b. 1947), Cherokee basket maker (
Qualla Boundary) •
Rhonda Gouge (b. 1955), gospel and bluegrass musician and educator (
Mitchell County, NC) •
Neal Thomas, white oak basket maker (
Wake County, NC) ==See also==