Artwork by Pat Gold.
Sorry, but …. THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!
We will record it and post it on our YouTube channel afterward!
Join us for a lively, fun and informative panel discussion about the history, cultural impact and role basketry plays in contemporary art.
Baskets convey meaning through the artists’ selection of materials; the techniques they use; and the colors, designs, patterns, and textures they employ. Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America chronicles a history of American basketry from its origins in Native American, immigrant, and slave communities to its presence within the contemporary fine art world. This panel discussion will explore the depth and breadth of the contemporary basketry movement.
The event is free to the public and will be hosted on Zoom.
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About the panelists:
Kristin Schwain – Associate Professor of American Art in the School of Visual Studies at the University of Missouri. She holds joint PhDs in Art History and Humanities from Stanford University. Her first book, Signs of Grace: Religion and American Art in the Gilded Age (Cornell University Press, 2008), examined how late-nineteenth-century American artists drew on religious beliefs and practices to explore new relationships between viewers and objects, and how beholders looked to art in order to experience transcendence and save their souls. Her recent research seeks to complicate the story of American modernism by examining the roles played by religion, race, religion, and consumption in the production, display, and reception of American visual and material cultures. Her latest project was the co-curation and scholarly catalog for the traveling exhibition, Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America.
Jo Stealey – artist, curator, professor emerita of the University of Missouri. During her career she was the head of the fiber program and founding director for the School of Visual Studies. A nationally recognized artist in the contemporary basketry movement, her work is exhibited nationally and found in many private and public collections, including the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. She teaches workshops, curates exhibitions, lectures on American basketry throughout the country and is a contributing author for several fiber publications. She is the co-curator for the traveling exhibition, Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America and co-author of the accompanying scholarly catalog. She currently serves on the board for SA+C.
Carol Eckert is a studio artist who has worked within the basketry field for over 30 years. Sh employs a simple basketry technique, coiling, to construct a myriad of forms including staffs, books, processionals, and wall pieces — all focused on the complex interactions between humans and the natural world.
In addition to her studio practice, Eckert works as an independent curator and writer, and maintains a blog focused on contemporary basketry. She has served on the boards of Craft Emergency Relief Fund, National Basketry Organization, and Arizona State University Art Museum, and is a member of the Surface Design Association Exhibition Committee. Eckert’s work has been exhibited extensively and is included in many public collections, including Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR; Art Museum, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ; Denver Art Museum, CO; de Young Museum/Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA; Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA; Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA; Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA; Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI; Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; Szombatheli Keptar, Szombathely, Hungary; US Embassy, Mbabane, Swaziland.