The Lear Theater occupies the historic First Church of Christ, Scientist, in the Truckee River Arts District. In 2011, the building was in the process of renovation into a mid-size space for theater, music, and dance performances. The 1939 church building was purchased in 1998 by the Theater Coalition with a major matching donation from Moya Lear, and the building was renamed in her honor.

While traditional and folk arts are grounded in communities and accessible to all, there inevitably arise exemplary practitioners of any art form who take those traditions to new heights. All of these artists would practice their skills regardless of payment or recognition, and many of them would never think to call themselves artists. They do their work out of love, out of a deep need to express who they are and where they come from, and a talent honed over many years of practice and work.

Folklife is the traditional expressive culture shared within groups of people. The definition used in the establishment of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in 1976 says, "American folklife is the traditional, expressive, shared culture of various groups in the United States: familial, ethnic, occupational, religious, and regional. Expressive culture includes a wide range of creative and symbolic forms, such as custom, belief, technical skill, language, drama, ritual, architecture, music, play, dance, pageantry, and handicraft.

The "lore" of folklore can be divided into genres or the categories of expression that people learn and create as a part of their heritage. At the broadest level, genres can be categorized as oral, performance, material, or customary. Specifically, the list of folk genres is almost endless. Oral traditions include such things as stories, legends, jokes, and songs, but songs can also be grouped with performance traditions as can instrumental music and dances. Material traditions include crafts, costumes, foods, and vernacular (or traditional) architecture.