President’s Letter New Faces Book Review Along The Basket Trail Brian Jewett Exhibition Elizabeth Whyte Schulze Exhibitions/Workshops Calendar of Events Cerf+ Exhibition National Basketry Organization
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quarterly review | Summer 2011
Waltz 4 Debby Elizabeth Whyte Schulze
Promoting the art, skill, heritage, and education of traditional and contemporary basketry.
WWW.NATIONALBASKETRY.ORG
NEWFACES
NBOBOARDMEMBERS
President Michael Davis Brasstown, NC A bounty of fresh vegetables from Misty Ridge Farm.
Vice President & Treasurer Helene Meyer Washington Isle, WI
Fellow members: The dog days of summer are upon us and the heat and humidity are relentless here on the farm, and from the latest weather reports, across the entire nation as well. The crops are bountiful as revealed in this rare, triple rimmed Appalachian field basket. This type of basket which has side handles was used to carry babies into the fields while the parents worked or for gathering produce.
Susi Nuss Tunkhannock, PA Lois Russell Boston, MA Jo Stealey Columbia, MO Matt Tommey Asheville, NC
ON THE COVER Artist: Elizabeth Whyte Schulze title: Waltz 4 Debby 2010 7.5”h x 16”w x 16”d pine needles, raffia, round reed, acrylic paint and paper photography by: John Polak NBO Quarterly Review Editor Michael Davis Graphic Designer Tami Warrington tjwarrington@yahoo.com
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letter from the president
Secretary Donya Stockton Austin, TX JoAnn Kelly Catsos Ashley Falls, MA
ericotterbacon
Recently, Jo Stealey and I spent three days in Cherokee doing videography with two generational Cherokee families, the Goings and the Walkingstick families. Louise and Butch Goings gathered quite a few family of makers; present was their son Ed, his wife Christina who makes miniatures, and their daughter, Lauren. When we left their home place, we visited the homes of Geraldine Walkingstick and her daughter, Mary W. Thompson. We were also able to spend some time with her daughter, Sarah Thompson. As we entered the city of Cherokee, North Carolina, we were really pleased to see the three of them on a roadside billboard making baskets by the river. It was an honor and joy learning about both family histories and how basketry has influenced and enriched their lives. Each of these basketmakers creates exceptional baskets. Although the temperature was over ninety degrees, Cherokee and the surrounding area is so soothingly beautiful with its creeks, rivers, waterfalls and lush vegetation, that it made it hard for either one of us to complain about the heat and we enjoyed our visit very much. We hope to have the CD of both families finished by the first of the year and plan to make it available on the NBO website. This videography is a joint project between the NBO, two Cherokee families from the Eastern Band, and the North Carolina Arts Council. Please remember that NBO has VHS tapes on 27 basketmakers that we loan out to guilds at no cost other than the cost of shipping.
top: Acorn Basket, 2011 6.5” h x 6” w brown/black ash, birch bark, sweet grass, spruce root
By the time you receive this issue our sixth biennial conference will be in full swing at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. Eleven of the fifteen classes made and with all of the attendees, teachers and guests, we will have over one hundred participants similar to our last conference in Portland, Oregon held in 2009. Some of the highlights of this conference will be our trip to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the NBO opening at Fuller Craft Museum, Mobilia Gallery and GrayMist Studio, and a visit to the Harvard Peabody Museum. Of course an NBO conference would not be the same without our silent and live fund raising auctions for our scholarship fund and for general operating costs, along with an evening gala with music and dancing. Friends of Fiberart will be visiting Fuller Craft Museum shortly after our conference concludes and they have both Fuller and Mobilia Gallery exhibitions on their visit list.
All photography taken by the artist bottom: Golden Eagle/ Land Lock Salmon 9.5”h x 11” d birch bark, black ash, white spruce root, design is etched into darker winter bark to reveal the lighter under layer
The excitement continues to grow as we get closer to our trip to Poland for the ‘World Wickerfest.’ I was asked to lead the American delegation of makers, which include NBO Board members Jo Stealey and Matt Tommey, along with NBO members Kathleen Lewis and Sharon Dugan. There will be several competitions, an exhibition, and numerous presentations on basket related matters including a presentation by Jo Stealey on the Contemporary Basketry Movement in the United States. I will update you on the NBO conference and our trip to Poland in the next issue of the NBO Quarterly Review.
rcheology provides evidence that the aboriginal people of Maine have been here for roughly 13,000 years. Development of stone tools for making dugout canoes some 3,500 years ago led to the technologies necessary for the construction of the birch bark canoe. The Ceramic Period, 500-3,000 years ago led to the predominant use of woven ash baskets and folded birch bark containers. The first European contact came 500 years ago and then settlements arrived 250 years later which led to the use of finer tools, resulting in a higher quality of craftsmanship. The Victorian Period in New England, stretching from the 1840’s1900, was the beginning of the tourist trade in Maine.
peggy wyman accidental artist
The Victorian Period led to the transition from predominant use and making of traditional utilitarian style ash baskets and birch bark containers to a contemporary style basket made for the visiting tourists. Baskets became more stylized, were made to be more appealing to the eye, and were finely finished with more care taken in the finished product. The baskets were usually made to fit the tastes of Victorian women, such as baskets used to hold gloves, hats, handkerchiefs, sewing and knitting accessories, keepsakes and the like. Even now the majority of Maine Indian baskets are highly stylized forms inspired by the
Our thoughts go out to Marci McDade and all those at Fiberarts magazine that have lost their jobs due to the cancellation of the magazine. I hope that many of their readers will, if not already a member, choose to join NBO and provide input to the organization and our magazine content. In closing, I hope that all are having a splendid summer and staying relatively cool. I am REALLY looking forward to the Fall and cooler weather! Regards,
michael davis Michael Davis, President and Co-Founder of NBO
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Moving back home in 2005, I immersed myself into solitude and traditional art. I spent large amounts of time in the woods observing and absorbing my environment. I have found satisfaction by taking nature’s elements outside of the traditional splint ash basket and combining them into a style of baskets that are my own contemporary, high quality, one of a kind pieces of art. There are and have been few basket makers and carvers in my distant family, and no one in my immediate family was a life time maker of baskets. My father was a wood and antler carver which most likely started me working with different woods as a child. I really enjoy the meditative state I find when weaving and hand preparing the materials. I find a sense of absolute thoughtlessness outside of the piece I am working on and a clarity in the thoughts and concerns I am currently trying to sort out. The creative process allows me to separate from the realities of life and go into a place I feel is part of my soul. My creations are a regurgitation of the artistic influences I have had throughout this journey. It is impossible to say where my inspiration comes from because it is from all around me.
the creation of my artistic abilities. I first remember wanting to make a basket when I was seven living on the Reservation. Living across the street from my house was one of the tribal basket makers. The women would gather outside her house in her open car port and prepare ash and weave baskets. I would climb a large pine tree in my yard and watch for hours, wishing I too could weave. I have tried my hand at many things produced by the hand and have found a comfort in working with wood. There is something very intimate about making something by hand, using tools that themselves are handmade. I have been very influenced by indigenous people from around the world with their body adornment, carving, weaving, and design work. These influences come to fruition in my traditional and contemporary designs.
Abstracted bell flower Basket, 2009 5.25” h x 7.5” w brown/black ash, etched birch bark, and sweet grass
Victorian Period that have little or no utilitarian use. There are still makers of the utility baskets which include packs for hunting, fishing, potato gathering, berry gathering, and fish weighing. Even with the technologies of today it is almost impossible to improve on the quality of these utility baskets, but the high cost of production has become a barrier to the creation and use of these products. The people of my enrolled tribe, The Passamaquoddy, have had a long history and have maintained a contemporary way of making the things needed in order to survive. These needs and items evolved over the years to suit what was necessary to sustain us and has kept many historic practices still alive and in use today. This is part of who we are as Passamaquoddy people as much as our language or land. It is as much a part of my identity as it is of the Passamaquoddy people as a whole.
I use black/brown ash, sweet grass, birch bark, spruce root, moose antler, porcupine quills, and other natural materials in my baskets. One basket may have two or three of these materials, or even all, to create a one of a kind piece made with the highest standard and quality. Every design is specific to that basket only and is hand drawn. As I stated earlier, I started making baskets in May of 2004 and have been making them regularly ever since. In 2005, I had my last job in which I clocked in or answered to a boss and continued making baskets and other Passamaquoddy influenced art as a career. It has taken much dedication and sacrifice to get to where I am as an artist and to be the person I am today.
The Passamaquoddy have many artists and basket makers who most all have their own individual style they bring into the crafts. I like to think I create a unique style and works of art because I get easily bored doing the same thing, and strive to make each piece it’s own unique creation that is not the same as any other. I approach each piece with a
top: “Summer’s Etching” acorn basket, 2009 7.25” h x 6.5” w brown/black ash, etched birch bark, moose antler, and sweet grass bottom left: “Goose (Abbe) - “Nesting goose” Basket, 2009 4.5” h x 7” w brown/black ash, etched birch bark, sweet grass, and textile dye bottom right: “On the Water” birch bark band box, 2009 8” h x 9.5” w etched birch bark, brown/black ash, moose antler, and sweet grass
On the Water, 2009 8” h x 9.5” w etched birch bark, brown/black ash, moose antler, and sweet grass
Passamaquoddy artists were traditionally known for their attention to quality of work and having an individual style amongst each family of artisans. Other typical tribal arts include birch bark canoe making, bead work, jewelry, porcupine quill embroidery, antler/bone/wood carving, drum making, flute and rattle making, and traditional/ contemporary clothing making. I like to create baskets and birch bark containers, make canoes, and practice wood/antler carving. In May 2004, I started making baskets by taking three workshops. These classes were offered on my reservation, Indian Township, Maine, by some of the tribal basket makers. I soon learned how to gather and prepare ash, sweet grass, spruce root, and birch bark using traditional methods by hand. Beginning drawing at age three and trying many mediums along the way, I had numorous influences in
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the eye. In the last two years I have been very drawn by the contemporary basket makers I have seen in places like the NBO publications. The use of organic materials in a contemporary basket is the largest inspiration as far as basket art goes.
general idea on what it may become in the end, but very often make changes as the piece progresses. I find that the material can only be manipulated to a certain point before it will work against you. You have to let it be it’s own entity, which creates a more organic form. The work that I am drawn to and inspired by seems to be work that is done with a very keen eye for detail and a craftsmanship of very good quality that has lines or design that is pleasing to
top: “On the Water” birch bark band box, 2009 8” h x 9.5” w etched birch bark, brown/black ash, moose antler, and sweet grass bottom: Golden Eagle , Land Lock Salmon, 2011 9.5” h x 11” w birch bark, black/brown ash, and white spruce root
I am in search of the talented apprentice that wants to learn all aspects of traditional and contemporary baskets and the preparation of the materials. This person has not been found. I do teach workshops with the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine, in conjunction with the Maine Indian Basketmaker’s Alliance, of which I am a member, and work on projects for my own community and other Native communities. I have also demonstrated and participated in birch bark canoe construction for the Penobscot Marine Museum, Madawaska Maliseet Indian reservation, and the Passamaquoddy Tribe. I would like to do more with the NBO to promote Maine Indian basket making and art. It is important for others to understand the process, materials, and continuing tradition of our art and baskets so it will
BOOKREVIEW
live on with future generations. I would like to expose my work to a more diverse and wide range of audiences as well as collectors and galleries. I would also like to share this type of work with others through participating and interacting with other artists and teaching more workshops.
by Helene Meyer
MAGUEY JOURNEY: Discovering Textiles in Guatemala Author: Kathryn Rousso
In 2006, I participated as a demonstrator at Schemitzun Pow Wow at Foxwoods where I won second and third place in the Traditional Basket category, and second and third place in the Contemporary Basket juried competition. In March 2007, I also participated in the Fort McDowell Yavapai Indian Market where I won first and second place in the Traditional Basket category and first and second place in the Contemporary Basket category. In March 2011, I attended the Heard Guild Indian Market where I won second place in the Traditional Basket category. In August 2011, I will be attending my first ever Santa Fe Indian Market as an invited artist. From July to December 2011, one of my acorn baskets will be exhibited at Fuller Craft Museum in the NBO’s ALL Things Considered VI exhibit.
University of Arizona Press, December 9, 2010. 208 pages, 7x9, 15 color photos, 4 illustrations, 1 map $35 paper
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he maguey referred to in Kathryn Rousso’s scholarly work refers to various forms of the agave plant, found throughout the American Southwest. Central and South America. The fibers extracted from the leaves of these plants are spun into fine cordage and worked with a variety of tools and techniques to create a variety of products from net bags to equestrian gear. These fibers are also sometimes referred to as sisal.
N EW2011 CHALLENGE GRANT $60,000 Current total: $60,000
Rousso, herself an accomplished textile artist provides a detailed look at the state of maguey culture, use and trade in Guatemala. Her book provides an interested party’s view of the Guatemalan nation and the people within that nation who are involved in producing materials and products of maguey. It is not only a book about technique, but also how the use of the techniques described has impacted villagers throughout the countryside. The first section of the book, Rousso describes her travels through the Western Highlands, then the Central Highlands, and lastly the East and North of the country. Rousso’s travels were mainly by bus along curving mountain roads from small village to small village. Through her experiences we learn the difficulties and pleasures of transcending language barriers and social differences in order to gain access to the villagers who could and would teach her the techniques she wished to learn. The second section of the book focuses on describing those techniques, and while no detailed instruction in any given technique is provided, this is the section that basket makers are likely to find most interesting. Each technique described is illustrated, and many will be able to follow the illustrations and develop the technique. The final two sections of the book focus on specific maguey products and how those products bring economic opportunity to the villages harvesting and processing the maguey plant into various products from string bags to thick rope. This is a scholarly book, written with deep interest and respect for the people and the product they produce. I think basket makers with a strong interest in entho-botany will find the book intriguing. Basket makers wanting a book that will provide basic instruction and patterns might be left unsatisfied.
WE’VE REACHED OUR GOAL Thank you to all who helped us meet our 2011 Grant Challenge!
Donations are always greatly appreciated. page 6
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by Lynn Clark, Exhibit Curator, Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum
“Along the Basket Trail” n 1870 Alfred Hanson donated a 1770s basket made by Abenaki Indians living near Dover, NH, to the Hopkinton Historical Society. Hanson was a descendant of Elizabeth Hanson of Dover who was taken captive by Canadian Indians in 1724.
photo: Basket by African-American basket maker, William Haskell photo credit: Mark Greenly Nineteenth-century business directories of Warner, N.H. list William Haskell’s basket-making business between 1885 and 1895. In 1881 his baskets were described in the newspaper as being as good as could be found on the market. Haskell did the work by hand, and in eight months could produce four hundred baskets.
In 1943 Olive Socklixis, a Penobscot basketmaker from Old Towne, Maine, sent the Canterbury Shakers yards of delicate “lece” woven from wooden ash splints. Samples of that ash lacework and Mrs. Socklixis’ Ietter survive at the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum.
one of the earliest known Penacook baskets and baskets made by William Haskell, an African-American basketmaker from Warner.
In 2010 staff at the Warner Historical Society dusted off an old basket in their storage room and discovered the name W. Haskell stamped on its strong oak handle. They realized they were holding an exceedingly rare piece of New Hampshire history; it was the handiwork of 19th century African American basketmaker WiIIiam Haskell of Warner. These baskets, and many, many more from Hopkinton, Warner, around New Hampshire and throughout the Northeast can be seen at the Hopkinton Historical Society, the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum and the Warner Historical Society this summer as part of a groundbreaking collaborative exhibition “Along the Basket Trail.” The exhibit grew out of a two-year research project by staff and volunteers at the three central New Hampshire museums and Abenaki basketmakers at Wijokadoah Inc. of Bradford. As the group studied New Hampshire baskets they realized important stories, like the ones above, are woven into these objects. These stories became the themes around which the museum exhibits and programs are organized. The resulting exhibits at each museum are unique, yet interrelated. The extensive collection of the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum provides an overall context for basketmaking in New England from colonial times to the present day. The Hopkinton and Warner Historical Societies each present an array of baskets made in New Hampshire. The rare treasures on display include
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In addition to the exhibits, demonstrations of ash log pounding and basketmaking, hands-on workshops, lectures and discussions are scheduled throughout the summer and fall in Hopkinton and Warner (see sidebar). Exhibit organizers hope as visitors see the exhibits and attend the programs that they will gain a deeper appreciation for baskets, including the people who made them, the teachers who taught them, and the rich tradition of the craft.
P Bag Tutu, 2009 24” h x 14” d plastic bags, steel and lamp parts photography by: Roman Iwasiwka
For a listing of programs and a link to each of the museum’s websites please go to http://thebaskettrail.com/trail.htm.
Brian Jewett
I
featured artist
Exploring Native American and African American Basketingmaking Traditions in New Hampshire
Larval Stage Unlike many reading this and most who have been featured here, I didn’t have much exposure to art growing up. My mother was busy raising four kids and my father, a reflective, intellectual type, spent most of his home time reading. During the three years my father was stationed in Germany, my parents did do their best to drag us all through every art gallery on the continent of Europe. This, unfortunately, had the opposite of the intended effect. To this day, I squirm at the very thought of paintings of old Dutchmen in ruffled collars, and nothing has a more powerful sedative effect on me than an art history text.
Side Bar Accompanying “Along the Basket Trail” exhibit is a series of programs that will be held at the three museums: Aug. 13, Sat., 7:00 pm, Hopkinton Historical Society, 300 Main St. Hopkinton Workshop: Make a Bookmark using Traditional Abenaki Techniques Aug. 27, Sat., 10:00 am, Hopkinton Historical Society 300 Main St. Hopkinton (registration required, 603-746-3825) Looking at Race: Native American and African American Basketmaking Sept. 10, Sat., 7:00 pm, Warner Historical society, Warner Town Hall, 5 E. Main St. Warner
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Even with no interest in “the arts” I still managed to end up with creative jobs. I worked in screen printing, map making, and
drafting, before finally becoming a machinist and toolmaker. I wasn’t great at production but excelled at solving problems. I could often be found pestering the engineers to change their designs and eventually they moved me into engineering and product design. When my wife and I purchased a small business and it lost its lease, I quit my engineering job. For a while I was absorbed in finding a new space, and designing and building it out. In the process, I completely reorganized the business’s daily operations but once it was done I was mentally adrift. It turned out that all those mechanical, left-brained activities were also my creative outlet. What I was good at was now done and I had trouble making myself do what I wasn’t good at.
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My work is always materials driven. Somewhere way back as a child I was captivated by the many pieces of depression era tramp art in my grand parents’ wonderfully cluttered attic. Those toys, trivets, lamps, and letter holders, made from empty spools, cigarette wrappers and popsicle sticks, continue to inform my work today. I’m fascinated by repurposing and recycling cheap common objects into works of joyful discovery.
top: Film Bowl, 2004 1st Day of Legal Gay Marriage, 2004 3” h x 8” d movie film, coatings photography by: Brian Forrest
Relocating from Los Angeles to Vermont, I allowed my work to take a back seat while we bought land and designed and built our house. Now that we’re settling in and I’m finally getting back to my artwork, I find myself collecting and using more strictly recycled materials. I’ve been working on a series of lamps made with materials collected from my own personal waste stream like plastic shopping and cereal bags, pull tabs from milk cartons, and sweetener packets from my morning coffee.
next page left: Exclamation Jar, 2006 15” h x 5” d tickets and coatings photography by: Brian Jewett next page top: Spray, 2003 11” h x 19” d cable ties, fishing line, fire nozzle photography by: Brian Forrest
Vessels for Light Probably because of my engineering tendencies. I’ve always been drawn to functional art. Contrary to the popular view, I feel that functionality can compliment and even enhance art. I’m also developing a growing fascination with the interplay of light and materials. Somewhere along the line, I decided that a lamp shade is really just a vessel for the containment and dispensing of light. I’ve been exploring not only the translucence, but also the shadow-casting properties of both materials and structure. Many of my new works are built on a grid, allowing the shading material to be placed only where needed leaving portions open and allowing for unrestricted backlighting of adjacent surfaces.
next page bottom: Dark Star, 2003 4” h x 17” d cable ties, plastic tubing photography by: Brian Forrest
Metamorphosis
Emergence
That is when things began to change. I started getting wild ideas for projects, usually involving making things using mundane materials in ways that were never intended. Of course, the responsible, mechanical side of me wouldn’t build this stuff because of all the boring things I thought I really should be doing. Fortunately, my wife, a theater major, was familiar with the creative process and helped convince me that my ideas were valuable. She encouraged me to stop talking and start creating.
From Rosalie’s class I learned about and joined NBO. I’ll always remember the NBO Conference that summer at Ghost Ranch, as the best summer camp I ever attended. Most of my new basket gods were there, either teaching or simply in the mix. There were many tempting instructors but given my taste in materials, the hog gut class with Jill Nordfors Clark called the loudest. Jill’s class was a blast and one of the best I’ve taken to this day. For 5 days we played with gut and really gained an intimate sense of what it could do. We wrapped it over everything in sight, blew it up and hung it on clotheslines. We didn’t make finished baskets but we all came home with an armful of experiments to refer back to. Now that I’m starting to teach, they tell me people want to come away with a finished basket. Personally, I like Jill’s way. With limited time, I want to play and learn as much as I can.
The more I made, the more ideas I had. My friends encouraged me, and people started asking if I was an artist. Eventually I had to ask myself the same question. I looked around for answers and found Otis College of Art and Design nearby. I enrolled in what turned out to be a pretty uninspiring Introduction to Sculpture class. Then, at an Otis open house, I met Rosalie Friis-Ross and my life really changed direction. Surrounding her on a table were the most fascinating objects I’d ever seen. She had baskets from a myriad of natural materials and also from all sorts of common, yet fascinating things like shredded money, film and staples, fish skin, horse hair, painted paper, etc. She had small works from most of the prominent basket artists at that time. I instantly realized this was the perfect medium for working with the materials I liked. As we talked, my mind was already making virtual baskets from my own materials. The very next semester I signed up for her class, The Art of Basketry, and I was hooked. I was probably the worst brown-nosing teacher’s pet you’ve ever seen. I did every basket twice, once with the class materials and again experimenting with my own collected materials. Before the semester ended I’d already enrolled to take the class again the next semester.
After Ghost ranch my work started to gain momentum. My first gallery was the Gallery of Functional Art in Santa Monica, CA. Within a few months after starting with GFA I was invited to submit work for two major group shows and was accepted into both. The Inspired Vessel at the LA Municipal Art Gallery was a really exciting show, especially as a novice. In Contemporary Fibers at the Wignall Museum/Gallery at Chaffee College I had a room to myself and did my only installation so far, a water conservation piece with 7 cacti from coiled garden hose, lashed with cable ties, a drain plate for a center, and valve handle flowers, each installed on a square of dead sod on the gallery floor.
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EXHIBITION Hayakawa Lineage July 29 through August 10, 2011 Shameless Plug That concept is what we’ll be working on in my class at this summers conference. So if you too would like to explore vessels as containers of light, and maybe even agree with my earlier conclusion that, for the purposes of a class, the process is more important than the product., then consider joining me near Boston this summer for NBO’s 6th Biennial Conference. Basketry is a small world. Come learn something new and rub elbows with your own basket gods.
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here is an almost forgotten term in Japan: “Ransho”. It means “the master of all masters.” Hayakawa Shokosai I was given that recognition. The creative Japanese bamboo art tradition of innovation and excellence begun by him expanded for 150 years and continues still. Today the fifth generation in the artistic lineage, Hayakawa Shokosai V, is a National Living Treasure of Japan. TAI Gallery is proud to present an amazing selection of artworks by four of the five generations.
Brian Jewett
Shokosai V and his ancestors were all visionaries in the world of Japanese bamboo art. Their family is a source of inspiration for bamboo artists across Japan. The classically restrained pieces they formed show sensitivity and presence combined with boundless imagination. The Hayakawa family baskets have careful satin finishes and distinctive contrast created by layering various plaiting techniques over one another. Their imaginative approach to baskets as art show ingenious and inspired thinking only master artists have.
top left: Cable Tie Lamp: Warped, Wefted, Wrapped, & Wired, 2011 | 18” h x 15” w x 9” d | cable ties, waxed linen and lamp parts | photography by: Roman Iwasiwka Photo of the artist: RCV.FIBERS.1.WV—Brian Jewett sits with his Cool Clear Water, 2004, exhibit at the Contemporary Fibers show at Wignall Museum/Gallery at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga.
recognizing
AWARDWINNER
For more Information please contact: TAI Gallery/Textile Arts 1601 B Paseo de Peralta Santa Fe, NM 87501 phone: 505 984-1387 e-mail: gallery@taigallery.com taigallery.com
Shan Goshorn Educational Genocide - The Legacy of the Carlisle Indian Boarding Photo Credit: Shan Goshorn
Shan Goshorn, an Eastern Band of the Cherokee member, won the AT&T Grand Prize at the 25th Annual Red Earth Festival’s juried art competition earlier this month. Her piece, “Educational Genocide - The Legacy of the Carlisle Indian Boarding”, took the top prize, winning a ribbon, medallion and $1,500.00. The basket is a Cherokee-style double weave, was made from splints of paper showing Carlisle students names, historical documents and photographs. A photograph of the Carlisle student body of 1912 was woven around the perimeter of the lid and is as readable as a photograph. Some of the splints are also from the address of Carlisle founder, Captain Richard H. Pratt. Ms. Goshan notes,” that Captain Pratt is the one who coined the phrase, “Kill the Indian and save the man.” The tribe children were sent away from their families to be taught the ways of the white man and were beat if they spoke their native language. Shan Goshhorn is a self-taught weaver, she has made five baskets to date with two of those being in well-known museums- one in the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington and the other in the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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top: Hexagonal Shaped Flower Basket artist: Hayakawa Shokosai V 11.125”h x 7.125”d Photography by: Gary Mankus bottom: Spiral Pattern Flower Basket, 1971 artist: Hayakawa Shokosai V 9”h x 13.25”d Photography by: Gary Mankus
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Elizabeth Whyte Schulze featured Artist LOOKOUT, LISTEN TO ME and SIT DOWN NOW! - These are three titles in my recently completed Anna series. The words on the basket confront the viewer as they interact with paper figures painted with marks, dots, lines and graffiti-like imagery. Each coiled basket is informed and inspired by my travels in addition to the experiences of everyday life.
Louise Goings | Written
middle: Tokyo Dolls, 2010 19.5”h x 19.5”w x 1.5”d pine needles, raffia, round reed, acrylic paint and paper photography by: John Polak
photography by: Stephen Schulze
top photo: Listen To Me, 2011 25”h x 20”w x 12”d pine needles, raffia, round reed, acrylic paint and paper photography by: John Polak
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My earliest artistic attempts were at the Saturday programs for young children at the Charles A. Wustum Museum now by: Michael Davis known as RAM, the Racine Art Museum in Racine Wisconsin. What I remember most was the freedom with paint and paper encouraged in the programs. RAM now has one of the most extensive collections of fine craft in the country and I am proud to have my work in their permanent collection. The encouragement to acquire an education and travel were two important goals my parents impressed upon me. While attending Ohio Wesleyan University during the late 60’s I was part of the action committee pushing for campus-wide changes resulting from the student protests to end the war in Vietnam. By the time I arrived in Boston in 1970, I discovered the beginnings of the fiber revolution taking place in university art departments throughout the city. This development in the east and a similar one on the west coast changed the role
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below: Noway, 2011 11.5”h x 10”w x 8.5”d pine needles, raffia, round reed, acrylic paint and paper photography by: John Polak
Tjapaltjarri and Emily Kngwarreye. Japan is a country that I have visited several times and each time it continues to inspire. The variety of finely made rice papers is providing me with a new source of material to add to the complex surface design important in my current work. From the solitude of an ancient temple to the bustling noisy crowds in Shibuya Station, Japan’s culture is one of extremes. I find both ends of the spectrum stimulating.
right: Monkey Business, 2011 9.5”h x 8”w x 4’d pine needles, raffia, round reed, acrylic paint and paper photography by: John Polak
below middle: Sit Down Now, 2011 12”h x 8.5”w x 5”d pine needles, raffia, round reed, acrylic paint and paper photography by: John Polak bottom photo: Lookout, 2011 16”h x 18.5”w x 8”d pine needles, raffia, round reed, acrylic paint and paper photography by: John Polak middle details: first: Lookout second: Sit Down Now third: Monkey Business
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DETAI LS
Travel destinations inform my work but I find that everyday experiences provide inspiration as well. I can best describe my recent series by beginning with the story of Anna’s Dilemma. The tale is written on a dress in each of the baskets in this series and refers to an
experience I had in the fall of 2010. I attended visiting artist, Anna Schuleit’s open studio at the University of Massachusetts where the topic of discussion initiated by Anna turned to how to combine one’s artistic pursuits and motherhood. Many attending women artists spoke about the difficulty in their own lives juggling studio time and children. Later, in reflection I posed the question to myself about who comes first? This experience was the catalyst for the words and imagery I use in this series.
of textiles as art. It was a stimulating time, as a new respect for the medium appeared, and in it I found my true interest in basketry. My desire and love for travel began back in 1969 when I traveled out to Borneo to visit my brother who had joined the Peace Corps. The experience of visiting Southeast Asia was a huge awakening for me. The art, culture and people of this area triggered a sense of adventure and discovery that would stay with me as I pursued my artistic career. In 1980, I traveled to Nepal and India for my honeymoon. The imagery of beautifully carved Nepalese window frames and festival scenes of flower draped Katmandu doorways inspired my first coiled baskets. Coiling, a process of stitching and binding a core to create a basket became my chosen technique. The coiled form has provided me with an inexhaustible variety of shapes and sizes while it retains the solid basket structure important for my sculptures. In the Nepalese Window basket series I wove and stitched the designs into the basket with hand dyed raffia and other colorful threads.
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The embroidering of the basket, drawing, and marking the surface with thread soon became too tedious and restrictive. As an alternative, I began to experiment with acrylic paint and soon found a new freedom of expression. The use of paint allowed me to draw, design and cover areas with layers of color. In 1996, I was given the rare opportunity to visit the original Lascaux Cave in France. The experience was a seminal moment for me as I was transitioning from all fiber work to combining woven basketry and the painted surface. In the cave I saw the charging bulls and galloping horses come to life on the walls and ceilings in this Paleolithic art gallery. The experience inspired me to find a way to bring my imagery to life on the textured surface of my basket sculptures.
“
Travel destinations
inform
my work ... but, I find that
everyday experiences
provide
Recent travels have taken me to Australia and Japan, continuing my education in other cultures and their art. Visiting Australia in 2008 gave me the opportunity to see the vibrant and dynamic paintings of world-famous aboriginal artists such as Rover Thomas, Clifford Possum
inspiration as well.
Summer 2011 • www.nationalbasketry.org
www.nationalbasketry.org • Summer 2011
”
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EXHIBITION Wrapping Traditions: Korean Textiles Now June 17 – October 22, 2011 The Korean Bojagi Fold Art of Wrapping in Contemporary Form
Wrapping Traditions: Korean Textiles Now Public Programs
Curated by Chunghie Lee
Saturday September 17, 2 pm Artist talk and demonstration with Wrapping Traditions artists Barbara Shapiro and Dr. Mary Ruth Smith
Bojagi (Bo-Jah-ki) or traditional Korean wrapping cloths were once used in formal ceremonies and daily activities in Korea. Similar to American patchwork, traditional Bojagi was made from simple pieced cloths or papers, which were elaborately embroidered together. Wrapping Traditions: Korean Textiles Now brings together 65 contemporary artists from Korea, and ten other countries that are inspired by this Korean folk art. Unlike the traditional form, contemporary Bojagi varies in medium, size, and function to create new meanings that transcend borders.
pictured left: Barbara Shapiro
top right: Embroidery Bojagi (Replica), 2010 artist: In-yul Heo | 24” x 24”, Linen bottom left: Transparent Patchwork artist: Eun-Sook Lee | 13.7” x 13.7” x 3.9”, Polyester Each basket in the Anna series is defined by the bubble bottom; an oval coiled base ballooning out before it turns in and up. Repeated around the bottom is what appears to be a classic Persian design, but is actually the tracing of a discarded piece of intricately cut veneer. Embedded into the coiling is a female figure visible inside the basket as well as out. The many layers of paint, rice paper cutouts and gel medium envelop the basket’s raffia and pine needle construction. Stenciled artists names follow the coiled rows up the side. Women in contemporary dress and hair-style, dance, walk, and stand their ground on the undulating surface. The female cutouts are created using fine paper, which is then adhered to the basket surface. Some are cut from old Vogue dress patterns with printed directions while others are from handmade
papers from India, Japan and Thailand. Layers of paint and paper create a complex interaction between figure and ground. For many years I have been interested in petroglyphs of the American Southwest. Considered one of the earliest forms of graffiti are the drawings on stone that survive today on canyon walls. I find myself also being intrigued by contemporary graffiti where artists leave their mark on buildings, bridges, and walls throughout the urban landscape. When I use graffiti, I want the words and images to confront the narrative on the basket surface. LOOKOUT, LISTEN TO ME and SIT DOWN NOW! Are the words and declarations calling out to the viewer to react, and perhaps respond?
In 2010 at the request of curator Chunghie Lee I prepared some work for the International “Pojagi and Beyond” exhibit in France. I wove a scroll in fine silk dyed in indigo and pieced and embroidered it. Later that year I pitched Chunghie’s exhibit to the director of the Museum of Craft and Folkart in my hometown San Francisco. The current exhibit is titled “Wrapping Traditions: Korean Textiles Now” and showcases both Korean and international artists whose work is inspired by Bojagi, the beautiful traditional wrapping cloths of Korea. For this current exhibit, which continues until October 22, 2011, I added a 3D component to my original work. This consisted in an installation composed of 7 plaited baskets many of which were covered with indigo dyed Gauze fabric as if wrapped bojagi style, with precious cloth. One of the baskets is shaped like a long narrow boat, several are disintegrating and several are still intact. This 3 dimensional installation of plaited indigo dyed cane forms wrapped in tattered
top: Waltz 4 Debby, 2010 7.5”h x 16”w x 16”d pine needles, raffia, round reed, acrylic paint and paper photography by: John Polak bottom: Waltz 4 Debby (also picture on cover)
www.elizabethwhyteschulze.com page 18
51 Yerba Buena Lane San Francisco,CA 94103 Summer 2011 • www.nationalbasketry.org
www.nationalbasketry.org • Summer 2011
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t (415) 227-4888
fabric evokes wrapping as a metaphor for memory, the fragility of life and the persistence of love. The use of indigo dye on the cloth recalls the Korean tradition of natural dyeing, but the use of indigo on basketry materials is my personal signature. The cane takes the dye very dark on the inner side with only a slight greenish tint on the outside allowing for some interesting contrast with an open weave structure. I dyed the sheer cloth in various shades from light to dark blue and also stiffen it and draped the baskets while it was still wet to give it some sculptural integrity. My work was inspired by a recent personal loss and deals with concepts of loss and mourning. I teach indigo dyeing and am interested in the universal applications this wonderful dye affords. middle: Wrapping Memory Installation artist: Barbara Shapiro | plaited indigo dyed cane forms wrapped in tattered fabric
f (415) 227-4351 www.mocfa.org page 19
Some of the elders knew the basketry starts, some knew how to finish them, some knew the full turn twine, so we met with them to put it all together. We were using yarn. We didn’t know the plant materials. Later I went to museums to identify plant fibers and study the designs on baskets. I learned the variations of plant fibers and designs. Examining baskets stored in museums is often a profound experience for Courtney Gold. She spoke of her feelings while holding a Wasco basket collected by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1805, now in the collection of Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusetts. She studied the baskets for six hours, incredulous at the workmanship and thankful for the opportunity to connect with the spirit of its ancestral basketweaver.
Courtney Gold’s Salmon Gill Basket, created especially for this exhibition, is another example of how traditional items can inspire the creation of a new artwork. Salmon were and continue to be important to Wasco culture. The Wasco are attuned to the condition of salmon and sturgeon that inhabit the Columbia River. When she weaves a sturgeon design into a piece, Courtney Gold gives it a deformity in response to her concern about the ill-health of the river, stemming from toxic pollutants from the Hanford nuclear site in Washington, where radioactive waste is stored. “Someone can see what I’m stating so I don’t have to write a page about all the pollution – it’s right there for them to see.” (Stark 2010:21)
Salmon Gill Sally Bag, 2011 10.”5 h x 9” w cattail leaves, dyed raffia
PATCOURTNEYGOLD
For Courtney Gold, the theme of family encompasses Wasco cultural history. About twenty years ago, she and her sister learned the art of Wasco basketry from a few tribal elders who could still make a whole basket when working together:
WORKSHOP Beyond Craft: American Indian Women Artists April 7 – November 13, 20 1 1
ARTISTS...
Riverside Metropolitan Museum 3580 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, CA 92501 www.riversideca.gov/museum/
Anita Fields [Osage]: clay artist Pat Courtney Gold [Wasco-Tlingit]: basketry Teri Greeves [Kiowa]: beadworker Margaret Wood [Navajo/Seminole]: quilter, not pictured
left to right: Anita Fields, Teri Greeves’ mother, Pat Courtney Gold, Teri Greeves © 2011 Chase Leland/Chase Photography
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ElizabethWhyteSchulze
T
hrough the themes of nature, people, and tribal belief systems, this exhibition documents the significance of their work within the field of American Indian art. In the past, these objects would have been made of local materials and would usually be produced for personal and family use. Today, the basketry of Pat Courtney Gold (Wasco/Tlingit), the beadwork of Teri Greeves (Kiowa), the quilts of Margaret Wood (Diné [Navajo]/Seminole), and the ceramics of Anita Fields (Osage) have been transformed from functional uses into works of art while retaining tribal traditions.
Basketry: Painting on the Coiled Vessel January 24-29, 2012 North Country Studio Workshops at Bennington College, Vermont North Country Studio Workshops, an educational and professional development program for accomplished artists and craftspeople will offer advanced level workshops in surface design, basketry, book arts, metal, clay, drawing, metal, printmaking, quilting, sculpture, bamboo and creativity and photography. A faculty exhibit, reception and evening program is open to the public on January 24. What makes the workshops unique are the strength of the faculty and the experience of the participants.
Interestingly, each is also a self-acknowledged storyteller, and has chosen her particular media to document and express her stories. The artists have chosen a variety of their work for this special exhibition. Some of the 46 pieces have been borrowed from national museums including the National Museum of the American Indian, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, the Heard Museum, the Navajo Nation Museum, The Museum at Warm Springs, and the Historic Arkansas Museum. The Riverside Metropolitan Museum is also mounting a complementary exhibition which features objects from their collection reflecting traditional Native American craft basketry, beadwork, ceramic and textile objects to coincide with Beyond Craft.
For further information visit
www.northcountrystudioworkshops.org | email ncsw2012@gmail.com | 603-380-4520
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www.nationalbasketry.org • Summer 2011
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CALENDAROFEVENTS
CALENDAROFEVENTS Conferences & Retreats September 9 – 11, 2011 Land of Lincoln Basketweavers Camp Tuck-A-Basket Interstate Center, Bloomington, IL www.llbwa.com/events/tuck11/tuckMain.htm
November 4 – 6, 2011 Basket Weavers Guild of Oklahoma Weavers Weekend Hinton, Oklahoma Janet Newman ~ (405) 789-4540 www.okbasketweaversguild.com
September 15 – 18, 2011 Central Pennsylvania Basket Weavers Guild 2011 Weaving Odyssey Weekend www.basketry.homestead.com
January 19 – 22, 2012 Texas Basket Weavers Association Conference T Bar M Resort, New Braunfels, TX www.texasbasketweavers.com
September 23 – 25, 2011 Wolf River Basketry Guild Fall Workshop Comfort Inn and Suites, Shawano, WI www.wolfriverbasketryguild.com
February 3 – 5, 2012 Georgia Basketry Association Convention Doubletree Inn Atlanta/Roswell Roswell, GA www.georgiabasketry.com
September 29 – October 1, 2011 Northwest Indiana Hoosier Basket Guild Retreat Porter County Expo Center, Valparaiso, IN www.nwhoosierbasketguild.com September 30 – October 2, 2011 Northwest Native American Basketweavers Association (NNABA) Annual Gathering www.nnaba.org ~ (206) 962-7248 October 12 – 16, 2011 Association of Michigan Basketmakers Convention Causeway Bay Lansing, Lansing, MI Judy Clark ~ ambtreas@gmail.com www.michiganbasketmakers.com October 19 – 23, 2011 Columbia Basin Basketry Guild Tidal Twinings Camp Magruder, Rockaway, OR Kate Mueller-Wille ~ (360) 666-2666 www.basketryguild.org October 21 – 23, 2011 Weaving Your Cares Behind Retreat Basketmakers of Bedford County Bedford, PA www.bedfordbasketguild.com
NBO QUARTERLY REVIEW
SUBMISSION DEADLINES Spring Summer Fall Winter page 22
March 1 May 1 July 1 October 1
February 11 – February 18, 2012 Basket Weaving Cruise 2012 Carnival Freedom Leaving from Ft. Lauderdale, FL Linda at A-1 Supertravel ~ (866) 878-8785 www.basketweavingcruise.com March 15 – 18, 2012 NCBA 2012 Convention “THE WOVEN JOURNEY” Sheraton Imperial Hotel - Durham, NC www.ncbasketmakers.com March 30 – April 1, 2012 Surface Design Association Conference Identity: Context & Reflection 2012 Philadelphia, PA www.surfacedesign.org March 30 – April 1, 2012 Los Angeles Basketry Guild Retreat Camp Stevens, Julian, CA www.labasketryguild.org April 21– 22, 2012 Baskets and Gourds Containers of our Culture Visalia, CAA Toni Best (559) 627-5430 www.calgourd.com
October 28, 2011 - January 7, 2012 Traditional Crafts - Past and Present Perspectives: Quilts, Woodcraft and Basketry Hillsborough Arts Council, Hillsborough, NC www.hillsboroughartscouncil.org
Exhibits July 29 – August 10, 2011 California Indians: Making a Difference The California Museum, Sacramento, CA www.californiamuseum.org ~ (916) 653-752 July 30 – December 12, 2011 All Things Considered VI Juried and Invitational Exhibition Sponsored by the National Basketry Organization Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA (508) 588-6000 www.nationalbasketry.org/all-things-considered.html www.fullercraft.org/exhibitions.html#Basketry
Ongoing - August 31, 2011 Nature Refined ~ Cathryn Peters: antler baskets MacRostie Art Center, Grand Rapids, MN www.macrostieartcenter.org ~ (218) 326-2697 Ongoing - September 11, 2011 Green: the Color and the Cause The Textile Museum, Washington, DC www.textilemuseum.org ~ (202) 667-0441
August 4 - 27, 2011 The Vessel Redefined: Contemporary Basketwork Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, M www.mobilia-gallery.com ~ (617) 876-2109
Ongoing - September 11, 2011 Small Expressions 2011 Tennessee State Museum, Nashville, TN www.weavespindye.org ~ (678) 730-0010
September 24, 2011 Transcending Traditions: The Next Generation and Maine Indian Basketry Jeremy Frey, Ganessa Bryant, Sarah Sockbeson, George Neptune and Eric “Otter” Bacon Hudson Museum, Orono, ME (207) 581-1901 www.umaine.edu/hudsonmuseum/exhibits.html
Ongoing - September 18, 2011 Things Got Out of Hand Chapters I & II Woven Vessels & Collages by Shannon Weber Topiary with a Twist: Patrick Dougherty installation concurrent Mulvane Art Museum, Topeka, KA www.washburn.edu/main/mulvane ~ (785) 670-1124
October 1 - 31, 2011 SPEAKING OF FIBERS! A MoFA (Missouri Fiber Artists) member’s exhibit Maryville University, St. Louis, MO www.missourifiberartists.com ~ (314) 821-7429
Ongoing - September 25, 2011 Changing Waters: Installation by Nathalie Miebach Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA www.fullercraft.org ~ (508) 588-6000 Ongoing - October 22, 2011 Wrapping Traditions: Korean Textiles Now Museum of Craft and Folk Art San Francisco, CA www.mocfa.org ~ (415) 227-4888
October 13, 2011 - January 15, 2012 Fiberart International 2010 Touring Exhibit San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design 415) 773-0303 www.fiberartinternational.org www.sfmcd.org
NBO Quarterly Review is complementary to members of the National Basketry Association. Application can be made online or you can mail the application form at the back of this issue.
Featured Artists New Faces Interviews Reports Reviews Calendar of Events News and Notables
Please submit your articles, images, notices and ideas for the regular sections:
And as always your letters and opinions are welcome.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Summer 2011 • www.nationalbasketry.org
Ongoing - November 13, 2011 American Indian Women Artists: Beyond Craft Riverside Metropolitan Museum Riverside, CA www.riversideca.gov/museum ~ (951) 826-5273
Ongoing - December 31, 2011 Woven Wonders: Native American Basketry Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC www.mintmuseum.org ~ (704) 337-2000 Ongoing - December 31, 2011 Sleight of Hand Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO www.denverartmuseum.org ~ (720) 865-5000 Ongoing - March 31, 2012 California Indians: Making a Difference The California Museum, Sacramento, CA www.californiamuseum.org ~ (916) 653-752
Markets & Shows August 4 – 7, 2011 SOFA Santa Fe - Santa Fe, NM International Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair www.sofaexpo.com August 26 - 28, 2011 World Festival of Wicker and Basketry Nowy Tomyśl, Wielkopolska Province, Poland NBO Contingent will attend www.festiwal-wiklina.pl September 23 - 25, 2011 Maine Indian Basketmakers Sale and Demonstration Common Ground Country Fair, Unity, ME www.mofga.org www.maineindianbaskets.org/Events.asp November 5 - 6, 2011 Fall Fibres - Wellington County Museum Guelph, Ontario www.guelpharts.ca December 10, 2011 Maine Indian Basketmakers Sale and Demonstration Hudson Museum, Collins Center for the Arts The University of Maine, Orono, ME www.maineindianbaskets.org/Events.asp
MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
ADVERTISEMENTS
Membership dues in the National Basketry Organization are annual. Members should receive renewal notices on each anniversary of their enrollment. All questions about membership are welcome. Please contact Michael Davis at m.davis@nationalbasketry. org or (828) 837.1280.
Please contact NBO Quarterly Review at (828) 837.1280.
www.nationalbasketry.org • Summer 2011
Please refer to the NBO website for photographic requirements or contact us via voice or email.
WORKSHOPS August 14 - 19, 2011 (Re)Cover Baskets:Vessels, Surfaces, Forms with Jackie Abrams Sievers School of Fiber Arts Washington Island, WI www.sieversschool.com September 9 - 12, 2011 Knot This Way: Norman Sherfield Gualala Arts Center, Gualala, CA www.gualalaarts.org ~ (707) 476-8914p October 7 - 9, 2011 Willow Harvest Weekend – Joanna E. Schanz Amana Arts Guild, High Amana, IA www.broomandbasket.com ~ (319) 622-3315 October 20 - 23, 2011 Willow Harvest and Weave with Jo Campbell-Amsler Sievers School of Fiber Arts Washington Island, WI www.sieversschool.com ~ (920) 847-2264 January 24 - 29, 2012 Charissa Brock ~ Elizabeth Whyte Schulze North Country Studio Workshops Bennington College, Bennington, VT www.northcountrystudioworkshops.org
CALL TO ENTRY September 30, 2011: Deadline for Entry 2012 NICHE Awards www.NICHEAwards.com October 31, 2011: Deadline for Entry FiberPhiladelphia 2012 OUTSIDE/INSIDE THE BOX www.outsideinsideentry.com January 6, 2012: Deadline for entry Crafts National 2011 Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn Univ, Topeka, KA www.washburn.edu/main/mulvane/
Submit by mail to: NBO Quarterly Review PO Box 277 Brasstown, NC 28902
OR call 828.837.1280 e-mail: m.davis@nationalbasketry.org page 23
INtheNEWS
DONATE
If you would like to help via a donation please contact CERF at info@craftemergency.org or 802-229-2306 or visit their website craftemergency.org
Natural Disasters Take Spotlight: Emergency Relief Year-to-Date Update As flooding in Minot, North Dakota becomes the latest focus of our nation’s attention, those of us at CERF+ are taking a moment to reflect on our emergency relief assistance for the first half of 2011. From our view, the floods, tornadoes, wildfires and other natural disasters that have affected much of the country are being felt very deeply by artists. In a typical year natural disasters account for 20% of our assistance to craft artists, but so far this year 34% of our assistance has been for natural disasters. It is still early in the recovery stage for many artists, so we expect to see additional applications associated with the severe weather events of this spring. During the first half of 2011, CERF+ assisted 32 craft artists from across the country with a total of $82,386 in loans, grants and inkind assistance. This aid included 25 grants (up to $2,500 each), 4 Quick Loans (up to $4,000 each), and in-kind assistance, such as booth fee waivers at shows, and discounts/donations from suppliers and manufacturers to eight craft artists. CERF+ also provided emergency relief resources and information services as well as technical assistance for individual artists facing careerthreatening emergencies.
Following are some of the situations we have responded to from the first half of 2011*: Five craft artists from Alabama, many of whom suffered complete losses of their homes and/or studios, were assisted after a series of devastating tornadoes hit the state on April 27. Read more about the Alabama tornadoes in the Studio Protector Blog. A jeweler from Louisiana lost her home and studio to fire. CERF+ funds were used to restock her relocated studio. A glass artist from Hawaii lost a significant portion of his work in an accident that happened at the end of a craft show. CERF+ funds were used to pay for his operating expenses while he rebuilt his inventory. A ceramic artist from Pennsylvania was seriously injured by a hit and run driver. CERF+ funds were used to help pay medical and rehabilitation bills that were not covered by her insurance. Five craft artists seriously affected by flooding in Laguna Beach, CA in December received CERF+ assistance early in the new year. A metal artist from Maryland is recovering from a long illness and major surgery. CERF+ funds were used to re-establish her studio and help pay medical bills.
(Emergency types: 40% Illness/Injury, 34% Natural Disaster, 16% Fire, 10% Other. * Please note that due to confidentiality, we are unable to share the names of our beneficiaries.)
CERF+ is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization and is the only one of its kind in the United States. CERF+ accomplishes its mission through direct financial and educational assistance to craft artists, including emergency relief assistance, business development support, and resources and referrals on topics such as health, safety, and insurance. CERF+ also advocates, engages in research, and backs policy that supports artists’ careers.
O
n the heels of the successful launch of CraftNEWYORK, a show and sale for the benefit of CERF+ (Craft Emergency Relief Fund + Artists’ Emergency Resources), Artrider Productions announces a CALL FOR ENTRIES for applicants to next year’s show. CraftNEWYORK will be held on March 30, March 31 and April 1, 2012, at the same location, 7 West 34th Street, across from the Empire State Building. “Because of the tremendous success of this first year show we are committed to making CraftNEWYORK an annual event, highlighting some of the finest craft being created today, while raising funds for an essential arts organization,” notes Artrider president Stacey Jarit.
Jackie Abrams & Josh Bernbaum: Dialogue July 15 - October 23, 2011 After receiving a Jackie Abrams basket as a gift, Josh Bernbaum made a glass vase echoing the basket’s form and color. Thus was born Dialogue, a conversation between two artists, as well as one between glass and fiber.
David Revere McFadden, Chief Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design, presented the Best in Show awards to wood sculptor Jay Rogers and runner up, paper artist Lucrezia
Dialogue is part of ARTCraft, six related exhibits that explore the boundaries between fine art and fine craft. Material Conversation, 2011 glass, recycled plastic bags, waxed linen (2011)
The jurors for the 2012 show are: Jean McLaughlin, Executive Director of the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina; Josh Simpson, glass blower, co-founder of CERF+ and former President of the Glass Art Society; Brent Skidmore, furniture maker and Director of Craft Studies at the University of North Carolina, Asheville; Lana Wilson, potter, educator and author of Ceramics: Shape and Surface and Elissa Ehlin, enamelist and founder of KILN Design Studio in Brooklyn, New York. pictured: McFadden, Jarit, Judy Gordon, Carey
The “CraftNEWYORK 2012” application is online at www.zapplication.org with a deadline of October 14, 2011.
FOR MORE INFORMATION WWW.CRAFTNE W YO R K . C O M
By BMAC Photos (taken from BMAC website www.brattlebrormuseum.org)
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Bieler, at the inaugural CraftNEWYORK this year. Produced by Artrider Productions as a benefit for CERF+, this first-time show brought thousands of enthusiastic visitors to CraftNEWYORK in early April to view and purchase the work of nearly 100 juried craft artists.
Summer 2011 • www.nationalbasketry.org
www.nationalbasketry.org • Summer 2011
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NBO Membership Application New
EXHIBITION
Renew
Amount included $___________________
Name ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Business/Organization _____________________________________________________________________________________ Address_________________________________________________________________________________________________ Jackie Abrams A Woman of Substance, 2010 silk (recycled blouses), waxed linen thread | 12” x 10” x 10” photo by Liz LaVorgana Lent by the artist
City ________________________________________________________ State/Zip__________________________________ Country (if outside USA) _____________________________ Phone ________________________
Membership Level
April 16 - September 11, 2011 Gyöngy Laky ALTERATIONS, 2008 apple tree cuttings, grapevine, nails, wire | 48” x 70” x 2” photo by Tom Gro courtesy of browngrotta arts
M
any cultures traditionally associate the color green with nature and its attributes, including life, fertility and rebirth. In recent years, green has become the symbolic color of environmentalism. This exhibition will celebrate green both as a color and as a cause, exploring the techniques people have devised to create green textiles, the meanings this color has held in cultures across time and place, and the ways that contemporary textile artists and designers are responding to concerns about the environment.
BASIC US $35
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BASIC INTERNATIONAL $45 • includes NBO Quarterly Review, membership discount, member exhibitions
STUDENT $18 • includes NBO Quarterly Review, membership discount, member exhibitions (Student ID required) FAMILY US $60
FAMILY INTERNATIONAL $70 • includes NBO Quarterly Review, 2 membership discounts, 2 member exhibitions
NOT FOR PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS (guilds, museums, schools) $50 • includes basic benefits and link on NBO website PROFESSIONAL (for profit) $75 • includes basic benefits, link on NBO website, and discount on advertisements PROFESSIONAL INTERNATIONAL (for profit) $85 • includes basic benefits, link on NBO website, and discount on advertisements SUPPORTING $300 • includes basic benefits and pass for opening reception BENEFACTOR $500 • includes basic benefits and conference day pass PATRON $1000 • includes basic benefits, conference day pass and opening reception pass
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Consider giving a NBO membership as a gift or make a contribution to our $50,000 Challenge Grant!
Emily Dvorin Verdundant, 2007 electrical wire, electrical connectors, cable ties | 11” x 18” x 18” photo by Kate Cameron lent by the artist
The exhibition will include a selection of work from the Museum’s collection, along with extraordinary work by contemporary artists and designers from five continents. For the first time in the Museum’s almost 90 year history, this exhibition will present two site specific installations. A handmade paper sculpture of the eco-system of coastal New Jersey which emulates the ebb and flow of an important estuary and a lacecovered arbor in the Museum’s garden embedded with grass seed which will sprout, mature and die during the period the exhibition is on view. Like all of the contemporary works, these installations will help continue today’s Green conversation.
Please make your tax deductible check payable to NBO and send to: NBO PO Box 277, Brasstown, NC 28902 or apply and pay online at www.nationalbasketry.org
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Application information now available at www.NICHEAwards.com Pat Williams The Last Grasp, 2007 cotton, wool; tapestry woven | 47 3/8” x 18 1/2” photo by unkown lent by the artist
2012 NICHE Awards competition NICHE magazine will be accepting applications for the starting May 15, 2011 Entry Fee: $18 for students, $40 for professionals The NICHE Awards annually celebrate Niche Award Hereexcellence and innovation in American and Canadian craft on both the professional and student levels. Categories include Ceramics, Fiber, Glass, Metal, Wood, Jewelry and more. Finalists are invited to display their work in the NICHE Awards exhibit at the winter Buyers Market of American Craft, February, in Philadelphia. They will also receive a listing in the 2011 winter issue of NICHE. Winners are announced at a special ceremony held during the winter 2012 Buyers
William Knight Wall Tapestry, 2009 rubber, steel, stainless steel 5’ x 7’ x 1’ 6” photo by Katy Uravitch courtesy of William Knight’s Studio
The Green exhibition and website are made possible in part through generous support from The Coby Foundation, Ltd., E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, an anonymous donor, Virginia McGehee Friend, and Martex Fiber Southern Corp. / Jimtex Yarns.
Market and featured in the Spring 2012 issue of NICHE. The deadline for entries is September 30, 2011. Judging of entries is based on three main criteria:
• Technical excellence, both in surface design and form • A distinct quality of creativity • Marketability
For more details, visit www.NICHEAwards.com 2320 S Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008-4088 page 26
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Celebrating Excellence and Innovation in American & Canadian Fine Craft
t 202-667-0441 www.textilemuseum.org Summer 2011 • www.nationalbasketry.org
www.nationalbasketry.org • Summer 2011
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NBO Quarterly Review PO Box 277 Brasstown, NC 28902
UPCOMING ISSUE
fall 2011
Geraldine Walkingstick Mary W. Thompson Sarah Thompson
Dorothy McGuinness
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