Folk Arts - Master Artist - Pat Wright

Pat Wright. Photo by Fritz Dent.

African-American culture is an oral one, says Pastor Patrinell Wright. Children learn it from their parents, teachers and elders. Wright learned from her mother, a public school teacher, and her father, the Pastor of a church in Carthage, Texas. After years of singing, playing the piano, and leading the world acclaimed Total Experience Gospel Choir, Wright does not know how to read music. The learning, and the teaching, remain an oral tradition.

The members of Wright's choir travel with her all over the world, sharing their voices, as she provides hands-on education and reconnects them about their roots. Wherever it goes, the Total Experience Gospel Choir leaves its mark. Audience members clap and sing and children stand on pews swaying to the beat.

Wright received Washington State's highest artistic honor in 1991 as the recipient of a Governor's Heritage Award.

In 1998 Wright was awarded a Folk Arts Fellowship in recognition of her outstanding contributions to African-American culture through music.