The Louisiana Folklife Commission is a 22-member body appointed by the Governor to address the special needs of Louisiana's traditional communities and advise the FolkLife Program. "The Louisiana Folklife Program, or LFP, has as its mission the identification, documentation, conservation, and presentation of the folk cultural resources of Louisiana. (Owens, 1) Folklife, which may also be characterized as contemporary grassroots cultures, includes living traditions learned informally over time within ethnic, regional, occupational, and family groups. The LFP initiates projects, collaborates with other organization provides technical assistance for planning and funding folkJife projects and manages the Division of the Arts Folklife grants with the goal of serving the greater folklife community of Louisiana. To this end the LFP oversees the Louisiana regional Folklife Program, which essentially allows in-depth documentation of Louisiana folklife by providing professional folklorists in each designated region.