BasketMakers

Second Story | The Art of Native American Basketry

2010-03-15T12:19:00.000-04:00

Second Story | The Art of Native American Basketry

I came across an article today about how Second Story, a media company from Portland, Oregon has developed the interactive media experience for visitors of a basketry exhibit. Second Story has created two interactive kiosks at The Autry National Center to enhance the exhibit, Art of Native American Basketry helping the viewer gain a deeper understanding of the exhibition along with related artifacts that are part of the museum’s larger collection.

The Autry National Center’s Southwest Museum of the American Indian has one of the largest collections of Native American baskets in the world. The Art of Native American Basketry exhibit is ongoing and is scheduled to run until November 7, 2010. Baskets from more than 100 cultures, arranged in eleven geographic regions are featured. Historically important baskets such as a lidded doubleweave rivercane basket attributed to Clara Darden (Chitimacha), a lidded basket with knob handle made by Elizabeth Hickox (Karuk/Wiyot), a willow basket coiled on a three-rod foundation, design in redbud and bracken fern root by Washo basketmaker Dat-So-la-Lee and many more Native American baskets from the early 20th century are featured.

The interactive kiosks display a colorful array of these Native American baskets. Individual records contextualize the basket by date, location, culture and usage. In addition to the rich information about each object, visitors are able to find similar baskets in the larger collection when they filter by Design Motif, Materials Used, Region, Usage, or Technique. Visitors can also enlarge or even rotate the basket images to gain a more complete perspective. Videos and photos show how certain basket materials are gathered and how some baskets are created.
These kiosks are a very interesting way to round out the experience of the viewer of an exhibit and are being used to help museums expose more of their permanent collections to their audience.

For a bit more about this exhibit take a moment and enjoy a video clip from the Autry.

Visit BasketMakers.com for more about basketry exhibits around the United States, Museums that feature baskets in their collections or select a book about Native American Basketry.

Generations of Symbols : Southern California Basketry Traditions

2010-03-09T12:08:00.000-05:00

A major exhibition of southern California baskets, “Generations of Symbols,” opens at the San Bernardino County Museum on Saturday, March 13, 2010. The exhibit, which will occupy both the Fisk and Schuiling galleries, runs through October 17. It is sponsored in part by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. Admission to the exhibit is included in paid museum admission.

More than 100 baskets will be on display, all from the collection of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. The baskets reflect several southern California basketry traditions, including Cahuilla, Cupeño, Serrano, Luiseño, and Diegueño.

“The tradition of basketry dates back at least 10,000 years in the American West. It is both a technology for making utilitarian objects and an art form with techniques and motifs handed down through generations of basket makers,” said Curator of Anthropology Adella Schroth. “Prehistoric Californians in interior southern California were hunters and gatherers who moved with the seasons between mountains, foothills, valleys, and deserts to gather resources. They depended on baskets for storage and for preparing, cooking, and serving food because baskets are light and sturdy. Pottery vessels, in contrast, are heavy and easily broken—not very practical for a mobile society.”

Baskets made by native groups in inland southern California in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century are generally identified as “Mission Indian Style.” Although the natural materials used by regional basket makers were limited compared to basket making traditions elsewhere in California and the southwest, baskets made by Native Americans in interior Southern California are remarkable for their beauty, artistic design, and craftsmanship.

Set at the foot of the beautiful San Gorgonio and San Jacinto Mountains, the Morongo Indian Reservation spans more than 35,000 acres and overlooks the vistas of the Banning Pass. Its elevations range from approximately 1,400 feet to 6,274 feet above sea level.

The reservation lies within traditional Cahuilla territory, and more specifically, the territory of the Pass Cahuilla people. The place name for this area is Malki. Established in 1876 under Executive Order, Morongo was one of nine small reservations set aside by President Grant. Originally named Potrero Ajenio, the reservation was only 640 acres in size. Over the coming years, the boundaries would change many times before arriving at the present land base. By the mid-nineteenth century, the Serrano people to the north began migrating to the Potrero Reservation settlement. They brought with them the Morongo name derived from the Serrano word Marringa’, which means the people of Marra’ (the Serrano place of origin).

Since the late nineteenth century, individual families representing several tribes, or tribal groups, have come to settle on the reservation. Mostly, these families are descendants of Cahuilla or Serrano Lineages; however, there are also families with ancestral ties to Cupeño, Luiseño, Chemehuevi, Paiute and Kumeyaay groups.

The Morongo tribe continues to invest and protect the traditional customs and collections to ensure the continuance of the cultural heritage for this generation and for generations to come. Over the past decade, Morongo has been acquiring and bringing home sets of Southern California Mission baskets. The Morongo Basket Collection has been cared for and preserved with the assistance of the San Bernardino County Museum.

“On behalf of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, we would like to express our appreciation to all those involved in the creation of this exhibit and publication. The baskets are considered to be a powerful, spiritual and cultural symbol within the native community, and it is with great honor and pride we display these beautiful pieces of art,” said Michael Contreras, Jr. the Cultural Heritage Program coordinator for the Morongo Band. “We believe sharing the basket collection will further educate and develop a greater appreciation for local cultures and Native people as a whole.”

The history and techniques of Mission Indian Style baskets are discussed in a publication written by David D. Earle and published as a Museum Association Quarterly called “Coiled Baskets from the Morongo Collection.” This full-color publication, based on the exhibit, will be available for purchase in the Museum Store.

The San Bernardino County Museum is at the California Street exit from Interstate 10 in Redlands. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 9 am to 5pm. General admission is $8 (adult), $6 (military or senior), $5 (student), and $4 (child aged 5 to 12). Children under five and Museum Association members are admitted free. Parking is free. For more information, visit www.sbcountymuseum.org.

Amazon.com Widgets

Basket Primer - Pigtail Swing Handle

2010-03-06T07:48:00.005-05:00

Thompson Basket,
originally uploaded by Picofbas99.

Jan Henry has posted a photo of a Tom Thompson basket that she bought at the Yellow Daisy Festival in Stone Mountain, Georgia. It is made of white oak with a bark decoration and has a pig-tail swing handle.

Tom is an active basketmaker and he has made this basket of White oak woodsplint. Other makers in the Appalachian and Ozarks area use this handle style. Historically, this style of pig-tail handle can also be found on Black ash swing handled baskets from the Great Lakes area. The bail portion of the handle is carved in one piece that has both ends whittled into a full round tail. The tail bends into a loop that inserts through the staples, then inserts back into the main portion of the handle on the diagonal, then bends again and is inserted back through the handle at a right angle to lock the loop in place. It is critical to carve this handle on the true grain of the wood in order to accomplish the bending. The holes through the handle are typically burned through the wood with a heated nail rather than being drilled so that a clean hole is created. Be sure to visit the large size image to see the full detail of this pig-tail basket handle.

For tips on how to split out the timber and carve your own basket handle visit this article on BasketMakers.com. If you wish to purchase a basket handle there are many resources to choose from here. Additional information about White Oak basketry is found here.

Check out Jan's flickr Photostream for many more interesting baskets.

Over time I will add a number of posts that describe basic basketry concepts and vocabulary. Look for them with the tag "primer".

Definition:
prim·er

–noun
1. an elementary book for teaching children to read.
2. any book of elementary principles: a primer of phonetics.

Shakerag Workshops - 2010 - John McQueen

2010-03-05T16:48:00.001-05:00

Shakerag Workshops - 2010 - John McQueen

This course Tinkering with Nature at Shakerag Workshops at St. Andrew's-Sewanee School in Sewanee, TN is designed for all levels of experience, from beginners to experienced artists.

Many more basketry events can be found at BasketMakers.com.

Basket Weaving Essentials

2010-03-03T11:03:00.005-05:00

I have gotten word today about the release of a new basketry video how-to - Basket Weaving Essentials with Nadine Spier. This DVD will help you learn from an expert how to coil beautiful baskets! Nadine Spier of Encinitas California is featured in this instructional coiled basketry video. The author of this DVD is an award-winning fiber artist and very popular instructor. Her beautiful and innovative vessels are exhibited internationally. In this 2-hour high-definition DVD, Nadine provides clear, concise instructions. The outstanding HD close-up photography shows all the steps in coiling a basket! Instruction includes how to start around a stone cabochon, around objects with holes (walnut slices, brooches, etc), 3 different stitches, how to master shaping the basket, how to finish, different plants you can weave with, and lots, lots more! A preview of the video is included on the web presentation so that you can get a feeling for Nadine's teaching style.

In addition to this DVD you can learn from Nadine firsthand in one of her many workshops at her home studio, a conference or even schedule her to teach at your location.

For much more about Coiled Basketry or Pineneedle Basketry visit BasketMakers.com. Visit the BasketMakers Events Calendar to locate other classes or workshop opportunities to sharpen your basketmaking skills. Don't forget you can subscribe to either the events calendar or these journal posts so that you don't miss any of them.

Woven Wooden Wishes and Bye for Now,
Susi

Basket Inspiration for Makers and Collectors

2010-03-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

Billie Ruth Sudduth has published a new basketry book. Basket Inspiration for Makers & Collectors Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. (January 31, 2010)

More Books By Billie Ruth Sudduth

For much more about a variety of basketry publications please visit BasketMakers.com.

Black Ash Basketry Film

2010-03-02T06:00:00.003-05:00

Black Ash Basketry Film

Great Lakes Lifeways Institute presents Black Ash Basketry: A Story of Cultural Resilience.

Two years in the making, this ﬁlm will take you on an incredible emotional journey across culture and through time following an age old tradition, now threatened with disappearing forever because of the invasion of the Emerald Ash Beetle. Through the voices of local Native elders and basket makers discover a story of family, the connectedness of life, the value of traditions, hope for the future and a spirit of resilience in the face of change. All proceeds from the sale of this DVD support the preservation of traditional arts.

While you are there be sure to visit the Pigeon Family Baskets & Cultural Arts site for informative slide presentations of the selection, harvest and processing of Black Ash for basketmaking.

For much more about Black Ash Basketry visit BasketMakers.com

2010 BasketMakers Calendar ~ March

2010-03-01T11:13:00.003-05:00

2010 BasketMakers Calendar ~ March
Originally uploaded by BasketMakers

February has come and gone. March is upon us and here is a printable calendar page for you.

Visit BasketMakers.com for more about bark basketry.

Woven Sculptures and Baskets Donated to MAD

2010-02-15T19:53:00.004-05:00

"Spell of the Green Lizard" 1995 / Artist: Carol Eckert / Cotton, wire, 11 1/2" x 7 1/2" x 3 1/2"

A rare collection of contemporary baskets including functional vessels as well as expressive works that challenge traditional definitions of basketry, has been promised to the Museum of Arts and Design by Sara and David Lieberman. With their passion for collecting contemporary craft and their exceptional openness to new forms and ideas, the Liebermans have assembled one of the best compilations of contemporary baskets in the country. Their collection will be presented for the first time in New York in the exhibition Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from the Sara and David Lieberman Collection, from March 16, 2010 and through September 12, 2010 at the Museum of Arts and Design.

“We are thrilled and grateful to be receiving this major gift from Sara and David Lieberman. Their collection is exceptional in its distinction and quality,” states Holly Hotchner the Museum’s Nanette L. Laitman Director. “The Lieberman collection offers an expansive overview of the current level of innovation and experimentation in the field. This material gets right to the heart of the intersection between craft, art, and design.”

Intertwined provides an international overview of an art form that is a fascinating blend of ancient and contemporary. The exhibition includes more than 70 traditional and non-traditional works, tracing the evolution of the basket from a useful object to a work of art that can have expressive, sculptural, and conceptual significance. The baskets utilize a range of materials from traditional organic fibers to surprising media such as zippers and fish skins.

Sara Lieberman states, “The field of contemporary basketry continues to interest and intrigue us. Talented artists working with a wide variety of material, both new and traditional, transform utilitarian containers into sculpture. Forms shrink or grow in size; colors remain muted or enliven with bold hues; and extraordinary skill combines with imagination, political and social commentary, playfulness, and great beauty. Is it any wonder that we love baskets?”

Sara and David Lieberman’s interest in baskets has coincided with a fifteen-year period of innovation and energy in the field. They first began acquiring baskets for their function and grounding in ancient traditions, but soon their selections included new works of great “vitality and vigor” that were more about “expression and communication” rather than function. The Lieberman collection now includes work by Ed Rossbach, Katherine Westphal, Sally Black, Kiyomi Iwata, Kazuaki Honma, Dorothy Gill Barnes, Carol Eckert, John McQueen, Elsie Holiday, Ferne Jacobs, Norma Minkowitz, Fran Reed, Lisa Telford, Kay Kahn, and many more.

David Revere McFadden, MAD Chief Curator, said, “People will be surprised to see such an incredible diversity of approaches to this ancient art forms. The Lieberman collection furthers MAD’s focus on materials and process, and the many ways in which tradition is being explored and renovated in the work of artists around the world.”

The collection also includes multiple works by John McQueen, whose background is in sculpture and who incorporates large figurative forms and text; Jane Sauer, who has championed the field; Gyöngy Laky, who brings a theoretical edge to the work; and John Garrett, who has been a noted experimenter with industrial materials. The Liebermans have also collected Japanese bamboo works and those made by Native American artists.

EXHIBITION ORGANIZATION AND CREDITS
Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from the Sara and David Lieberman Collection is organized by the Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona, and curated by Senior Curator Heather S. Lineberry and Jane Sauer, nationally known basket maker and scholar. The exhibition is coordinated at MAD by Assistant Curator Laura Stern. The presentation of the exhibition at MAD is made possible, in part, through the generosity of the Inner Circle, a leadership Museum support group.

CATALOGUE
Intertwined: Contemporary Baskets from the Sara and David Lieberman Collection is accompanied by a 48-page fully-illustrated color catalog which includes an essay by nationally-known curator and scholar Kenneth R. Trapp, former Curator for the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Museum and the Oakland Museum of California and a short piece by Los Angeles artist Ferne Jacobs. The Intertwined exhibition includes work by San Francisco Bay Area-based pioneers in the field including Ed Rossbach, Kay Sekimachi, Lillian Elliot, Gyöngy Laky, and Katherine Westphal. Among the 70 works in the exhibition is traditional work by Native Americans and innovative work by major contemporary figures, expanding the very definition of a basket. These artists include Dorothy Gill Barnes, Carol Eckert, John McQueen, Ferne Jacobs, Norma Minkowitz, John Garrett, and others. The exhibition also features exceptional holdings by masters from Japan, including Nagakura Kenichi, Jiro Yonezawa, Hisako Sekijima, and Yamaguchi Ryuün.

"Intertwined will be a visual feast with highly textural, colorful and boldly shaped sculptural forms suspended from the ceiling and hung on walls, in addition to traditional settings," added Lineberry. "The exhibition and its accompanying catalog, with essays by Kenneth R. Trapp and Ferne Jacobs, provide an international look at contemporary basket-making and its current level of innovation and experimentation." Other artists in the exhibition include Kate Anderson, Dail Behennah, Nancy Moore Bess, Mary Black, Sally Black, Jerry Bleem, Jan Buckman, Jane Chavez, Jill Nordfors Clark, Noboru Fujinuma, Shokosai Hayakawa, Elsie Holiday, Hideaki Honma, Kazuaki Honma, Jan Hopkins, Lissa Hunter, Kiyoma Iwata, Nancy Koenigsberg, Leon Niehues, Pearl Nuvangyaoma, Lindsay Ketterer Gates, Fran Reed, Hideho Tanaka, Tsuruko Tanikawa, Lisa Telford, Maseo Ueno, Dawn Walden, and Mika Watanabe.

Grass Roots African Origins of an American Art

2010-02-07T12:05:00.001-05:00

Grass Roots African Origins of an American Art is a major exhibition at McKissick Museum in Columbia, South Carolina tracing the history and artistry of southern sweetgrass baskets and their cousins in Africa. The exhibit is scheduled to run from February 13, 2010 to May 8, 2010. Five years in the making, this extensive presentation is the first to definitively chart the migration of enslaved Africans, their rice, and the baskets necessary to process this grain, to the shores of Carolina. McKissick Museum staff worked with the Museum for African Art in New York, the organizing institution for the exhibition, the Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston and the Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Festival Association (South Carolina) in addition to a distinguished a group of nationally prominent historians, geographers, anthropologists, filmmakers and curators to assemble this remarkable collection of hundreds of objects and accompanying documents, photographs, and agricultural implements in order to tell the full story.

The exhibit is available for booking at qualified locations. Please contact Ja-Nae Epps at 803-777-2876 for additional information about the tour.

Featured Events While at McKissick Museum

Grand Opening
Saturday, February 13th, 2010 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
11:00 a.m. - Tour of exhibition by professors Dale Rosengarten and Nakia Wigfall
12:00 p.m. - Peter Wood lecture on the history of Africans in South Carolina and the rice industry.
1:00 p.m. - Film "Grass Roots: The Enduring Art of the Lowcountry Basket" by Dana Sardet.
There will also be a children's art activity table from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Basket Day
Saturday, April 17th, 2010 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Basket makers from the Charleston area selling handcrafted baskets on the Horseshoe.

Sweet Grass Sundays
February 21, March 21, April 18, 2010
1:00 - 4:00 pm

For additional information and background about Gullah Sweetgrass basketry visit BasketMakers.com.

California Native Plant Use In Basketry

2010-02-05T10:05:00.001-05:00

I would like to bring your attention to the work of a California ethnobotanist, artist, writer, and photographer devoted to California native plants. Deborah Small has collaborated with and documented the gathering practices of Abe Sanchez, Rose Ramirez, Marta Rodriguez, Stan Rodriquez and other Luiseño, Acjachemen, Kumeyaay, and Chumash basketweavers as they preserve the cultural practices essential to their indigenous cultures.

Blog posts including videos about the culture, gathering practices and use of California native plants such as Mulenbergia rigens, rhus trilobata, deergrass, sumac, chia, Juncus textilis, mesquite tree roots, redbud, ironwood are all featured. While you are visiting her site do not miss the splendidly illustrated Edible, Medicinal, Material, Ceremonial: Contemporary Ethnobotany of Southern California Indians 2010 Calendar

Here is a small sample of her work in the form of a video picturing the gathering of deergrass. Please visit her site for more. I also encourage you to stop by BasketMakers.com for much more about the use of natural materials in basketmaking.

2010 BasketMakers Calendar ~ February

2010-01-30T10:51:00.001-05:00

2010 BasketMakers Calendar ~ February
Originally uploaded by BasketMakers

A new month is upon us and it is time to print out your basketry calendar for February.

Marin Show: Art of the Americas

2010-01-24T15:00:00.000-05:00

If you collect antique Native American baskets you will not want to miss this show. The annual Marin Show: Art of the Americas celebrates its 26th year in February, as the most substantive and extensive ongoing showcase focused on the indigenous arts from across North, Central and South America. The show, produced by KR Martindale Show Management, is described as the “Superbowl of Native American Art collecting”, bringing together top and passionate dealers, collectors, artists, and academia from across the world. A staple of the Marin Center's annual programming, the show's main floor focuses on antique material, with the adjacent hotel ballroom showcasing contemporary art and native artists. The exhibited art includes pottery, textiles, sculpture, jewelry, beadwork, baskets, paintings, photography and more, ranging in price from the low hundreds to $1,000,000, so as to offer quality material to buyers ranging from first time buyers to seasoned collectors. The Marin Show works in association with the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Assoc., The Marin Museum of the American Indian, The Miwok Archeological Preserve of Marin, Tribal Arts Magazine, American Indian Art Magazine, and Western Art Collector Magazine.

The 2010 Marin Show: Art of the Americas is an anchor event for the First Annual San Francisco Tribal Arts Weekend. In partnership with the San Francisco Tribal & Textile Arts Show (SFTTA) and the Marin Show Art of the Americas (MSAA), San Francisco Tribal Arts Weekend is the largest and most significant gathering of Tribal Arts dealers and collectors in the world. San Francisco Tribal Arts Weekend visitors will gain admission to both shows (MSAA, SFTTA) with the purchase of one ticket ($15) at either show. Tickets available at the door.

Of particular interest to basket collectors will be participation of dealers such as Natalie Linn and Elaine Tucker, Turkey Mountain Traders, Jerry Weisberg Tribal Antiques, Terry DeWald American Indian Art, Spirits of the Plains Gallery and numerous others. Basket makers will enjoy the lecture and book signing: Basketry Plants of Western North America by renowned California basket maker, collector and teacher, Justin Farmer. Mr. Farmer served on the Board of Trustees of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, The Autry Center, in Los Angeles, and he is a member of virtually every Indian museum in Southern California. Mr. Farmer will discuss his new book at Embassy Suites at 12:00 pm, Saturday February 13, 2010. Attendance is free.

WHEN:
Saturday, February 13, 2010
10:00am - 6:00pm AND Sunday,
February 14, 2010
11:00am - 5:00pm

WHERE:
Marin Civic Center
10 Avenue of the Flags
San Rafael, CA 94903
and
Embassy Suites
101 McInnis Pkwy
San Rafael, CA 94903

ADMISSION:
$15 two-day admission. Allows free admission to San Francisco Tribal & Textile Arts Show.

INFO:
For additional information, please visit www.marinshow.com.

For more on basket collecting be sure to visit BasketMakers.com.

Fiberarts Magazine ~ Lisa Telford Article

2010-01-09T11:58:00.001-05:00

Fiberarts Magazine> How Lisa Telford Harvests Cedar Bark and Her Traditional Pre-Contact Clothing and Basketry

Check out this article in the January/February 2010 issue of Fiberarts Magazine. It features artist Lisa Telford, who weaves baskets, hats and traditional pre-contact clothing from the bark of red and yellow cedar trees. The article pictures a stunning twined hat of red and yellow cedar bark, a cape of red cedar bark, cotton cordage, spun yellow cedar cordage with sea otter fur trim, a twined dance apron and twined baskets of red and yellow cedar bark.

Visit BasketMakers.com for more about Cedar Basketry or select a book for further reading about Northwest ~ Coastal Pacific or Arctic, Subarctic and Alaskan basketmaking.

Fiberarts magazine covers work in basketry, fiber, knitting, needlework, papermaking, quilting, sculpture, surface design, wearable art, weaving & more!

JoAnne Russo Lecture

2010-01-08T09:00:00.010-05:00

Main Street Arts, Saxtons River, VT

Thursday, January 14 at 6:00 PM

It Starts with a Tree - Basket artist JoAnne Russo will give an illustrated talk about her 20+ years of basketmaking. She'll start with the basics: how a basket is made from black ash, but she will also discuss those influences along the way that have changed her basket designs from functional, decorative pieces to today's works of art.

Keep track of scheduled basketry events by visiting BasketMakers.com.

2010 BasketMakers Calendar ~ January

2010-01-07T20:31:00.002-05:00

2010 BasketMakers Calendar ~ January
Originally uploaded by BasketMakers

Nantucket Lightship Basket by Jose Formoso Reyes

2010-01-07T15:15:00.004-05:00

This Nantucket lightship basket by Jose Formoso Reyes will be offered at auction by Pook & Pook, Inc., 463 East Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, PA 19335 at their Period Antiques & Fine Art Sale, January 15, 2010.

Auction is now complete. Realized price $878.

For more on Basket Collecting or Nantucket Lightship baskets visit BasketMakers.com.

Dorothy Gill Barnes at Penland

2010-01-07T12:06:00.002-05:00

Noted basket artist Dorothy Gill Barnes will lead a workshop at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina this summer. The workshop entitled - From Nature: Textiles/Sculpture will be held May 30 - June 11, 2010. Students will use respectfully harvested heavy and delicate barks, grasses, wood, vines, and roots gathered from the Penland landscape, to construct vessels or sculptures using a variety of techniques including carpentry, sewing, weaving.

Dorothy is well known for her expertise in using native natural materials in her sculptural basketry. For more about bark and other native naturals used in basketmaking visit BasketMakers.com.

Judy Mallow Book In Paperback

2010-01-06T10:30:00.002-05:00

I noticed that Judy Mowfield Mallow's book, Pine Needle Basketry: From Forest Floor to Finished Project is scheduled to be released in paperback - Feb 2, 2010. Other books by Judy Mallow

For much more on pine needle basketry visit BasketMakers.com.

Appointment to the NBO Board

2009-12-15T10:28:00.000-05:00

Well, it is official. I got word from Michael Davis that I am now a member of the board of the National Basketry Organization. One of my primary responsibilities will be maintaining the events listings for the NBO. If you are involved with the planning of a major basketry conference or event, please be sure to let me know so that I can consider adding it to the events listings.

Maine Indian Basketmakers Sale

2009-12-02T08:34:00.004-05:00

The 2009 Maine Indian Basketmakers Association sale and demonstration is set for 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, at the Collins Center for the Arts, University of Maine. The event, sponsored by the UMaine Hudson Museum, is free and open to the public.

The annual holiday event features Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot basketmakers, who sell handmade, one-of-a-kind, ash splint and sweetgrass baskets. Work baskets, such as creels, pack and potato baskets, and fancy baskets ranging from strawberry- and blueberry-shaped baskets also will be on display and for sale.

Curly bowls, quill jewelry, wood carvings and birchbark work round out the handcrafted items that will be available to shoppers.

Traditional foods served by the Penobscot Nation Boys and Girls Club, music, demonstrations of brown ash pounding, basketmaking, carving and birchbark work, as well as traditional drumming and dancing will be presented.

The schedule of events is:

• 9 a.m., event opens to the public.

• 9:30 a.m., welcoming ceremony with Penobscot Chief Kirk Francis and traditional greeting songs with Watie Akins of the Penobscots.

• 10-11:30 a.m., book signing with Kathleen Mundell, author of “North by Northeast: Wabanaki, Akwesasne Mohawk, and Tuscarora Traditional Arts.”

• 10 a.m., brown ash pounding and work basket demonstration with Micmac Eldon Hanning.

• 10:30 a.m., fancy basket demonstration with award-winning Penobscot basketmaker Barbara Francis.

• 11 a.m., Penobscot beadworking demonstration with Jennifer Sapiel Neptune.

• 11:30 a.m., moose-calling demonstration with Penobscot Barry Dana.

• 11 a.m.-1 p.m., traditional foods, featuring hull corn soup, fry bread and blueberry desserts. Food sales benefit the Penobscot Nation Boys and Girls Club.

• Noon, rootclub demonstration with Penobscot master carver Stan Neptune.

• 1 p.m., children’s story time with Donald Soctomah, author of “Remember Me: Tomah Joseph’s Gift to Franklin Roosevelt.”

• 1 p.m., traditional Passamaquoddy medicine with Fredda Paul.

• 2-4 p.m., Burnurwurbskek Singers with drumming, singing and dancing.

• 4 p.m., drawing for the Hudson Museum Friends Maine Indian Basket Raffle. This year’s basket was made by National Heritage Fellow Award winner Clara Keezer. Tickets are $5 each.

For more about Black ash basketry visit BasketMakers.com If you attend this event, please post your reflections in the comments.

TAI Gallery - Art Miami

2009-11-25T09:32:00.004-05:00

Rob Coffland wrote me to announce the participation of TAI Gallery in Art Miami, December 2 - 6, 2009. They will present a spectacular selection of Japanese bamboo art. New artwork by Torii Ippo, the Tanabe family, and Nagakura Kenichi will be among the many bamboo artworks in their booth in the Wynwood Gallery District, Miami, FL.

For more about bamboo basketry visit BasketMakers.com. For more basketry events stop by this page and subscribe.

Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show

2009-11-08T07:00:00.002-05:00

The Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA, Nov 11-15, 2009. Participating basket artists include Christine L. Adcock, Mary A. Jackson, Ed Bing Lee, Kari G. Lonning, Debora M. Muhl, Joh Ricci, JoAnne Russo, Biba Schutz, Aaron Yakim & Cynthia W. Taylor, Samuel Yao and Jennifer Heller Zurick.

Artist Demonstration Schedule
Friday, November 13th, 2009,
12:00 PM Cynthia Taylor and Aaron Yakim, Parkersburg, WV, booth #505: How to transform a young straight white oak tree trunk into a basket.

2:00 PM Kari Lonning, Ridgefield, CT, booth # 710: Basket Making - How to weave a 'hairy' basket.

3:00 PM Sung-nim Joun, Korea, booth #412: See how the artist makes a headpad with traditional Korean rush twisting and coiling techniques.

At this year's Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, 195 craft artists from all across the U.S. are exhibiting and selling their work, selected by a jury from over 1300 applicants. In addition, a group of 26 guest artists from Korea will also be featured. The Craft Show will be held from Thursday, November 12 through Sunday, November 15 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, with a VIP Preview and reception on Wednesday evening, November 11. For tickets and information please see www.pmacraftshow.org or call (215) 684-7930.

Native American Exhibit at Columbia College

2009-11-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Native American Exhibit at Columbia College

Native American weavings, kachina dolls, beadwork, basketry, and pottery are on display in the Columbia College rotunda through November 20, 2009.

These items are part of an extensive Native American artifact collection gathered by William Walter of Mountain View, California. They come from the various tribes of the Southwest, including Mission tribes of southern California, and some Plains tribes, notably Cheyenne and Apache. The collection was given to the Columbia College Foundation by Walter in 1974, and has been exhibited, all or in part, every year since.

The woven and sewn baskets on display are examples from the Pima, Jicarilla Apache, Hopi, and California Mission Indian cultures. Baskets were used to carry all kinds of foodstuff as well as for cooking. They were made by a variety of weaving and sewing techniques, some fine enough to carry water.

The rotunda is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is closed holidays.

Columbia College, 11600 Columbia College Dr., Sonora CA 95370

Sculpture Objects and Functional Art

2009-11-05T08:20:00.003-05:00

SOFA CHICAGO 2009 will be presented in Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, 600 E. Grand Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, Nov. 6 - 8. Tickets for the Opening Night Gala Preview on Thursday, Nov. 5 from 7 to 9 p.m. are $50. Tickets for the Opening Night Sam Maloof Benefit Tribute Dinner at 8:30 pm on the Fair show floor are available on www.sofaexpo.com. Fair hours are as follows: Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 8 from noon to 6 p.m. Tickets are $15 for single day general admission and $25 for a three-day pass. Discounted student, senior and group tickets are available. Catalogs are $15. For general information, please visit sofaexpo.com; call 800.563.SOFA (7632) or 773.506.8860; or email info@sofaexpo.com.

Basketmakers and fiber artists scheduled to have work on exhibit include David Nittmann, Jennifer Falck Linssen, Jan Hopkins, Lissa Hunter, Jon Eric Riis, Polly Adams Sutton, Dawn Walden, Norma Minkowitz, John Garrett, Mary Giles, and the late Ed Rossbach.