American Basketry
Introduction
This section of our catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "American Basketry." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in ourResource Library are listed at the beginning of the section. Clicking on titles takes readers directly to these articles and essays. The date at the end of each title is the Resource Library publication date.
After articles and essays from Resource Library are links to valuable online resources found outside our website. Links may be to museums' articles about exhibits, plus much more topical information based on our online searches. Following online resources may be information about offline resources including museums, DVDs, and paper-printed books, journals and articles.
We recommend that readers search within our website to find detailed information for any topic. Please see our page How to research topics not listed for more information.
Resource Library articles and essays honoring the American experience through its art:
Weaving a Collection: Native American Baskets from the Bruce Museum (2/18/07)
People of the River: Native Arts of the Oregon Territory (1/25/05)
Clara Neptune Keezer: A Legacy of Passamaquoddy Basket Making (9/11/03)
The Responsive Eye: Ralph T. Coe and the Collecting of American Indian Art (7/26/03)
Milton Avery Revisited: Works from the Louis and Annette Kaufman Collection (7/11/03)
Walk in Beauty: Hózhó and Navajo Basketry (4/15/03)
Woven Worlds: Basketry from the Clark Field Collection (2/19/01)
Crafting Utopia, The Art of Shaker Women (10/22/00)
Weaving Culture: Baskets from the Museum of Northern Arizona Collections (10/18/00)
The Renwick Invitational: Five Women in Craft (4/2/00)
(above: Pablita Velarde, Basketmaking, c. 1940. Source: National Park Service)
Other online sources
Continued Artistry is a 2023 exhibit at the University of Mississippi Museum which says: "Choctaw basket weaving is and important traditional artistry that has been practiced for centuries. Baskets were first created primarily for utilitarian use and came in a myriad of shapes and sizes to serve different functions. While production and common use has dwindled in the past century, native weavers continue the tradition, passing their skill to the next generation. Most contemporary Choctaw basket weavers are still based in Mississippi, though a few are based in Oklahoma. Indigenous artisans of the southwest have practiced silversmithing and jewelry making since the mid-19th century. Spanish and Mexican people first taught Navajo artists the foundational skills that would later lead to their iconic artform. While initial Navajo designs were chunky pieces of silver with etched designs, the Navajo people soon began setting stones into the silver creating the style best known today." Accessed 1/24
Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art, an exhibit about basket makers in South Carolina's Gullah/Geechee region, held October 4, 2009 to January 10, 2010 at the Fowler Museum / UCLA. Includes press release. Accessed December, 2015.
Hold Everything! Masterworks of Basketry and Pottery from the Heard Museum is an online exhibit of the Heard Museum. Includes texts and images. Accessed January, 2015.
Hopi Basketry: 1880-1980 is a 2026 Gemini 3 Deep Research Report which says: "The narrative of Hopi basketry between 1850 and 1945 is a profound testament to the resilience of a culture navigating the transition from isolated self-sufficiency to the globalized commercialism of the twentieth century. For the Hopi people, or Hopitu Shunumu (the Peaceful People), residing on the three primary mesas of northeastern Arizona, the art of weaving has served as a continuous thread connecting their Ancestral Puebloan origins to the modern era. This period, spanning nearly a century, witnessed the evolution of basketry from purely utilitarian and ceremonial vessels into highly sought-after art forms shaped by the pressures of the Santa Fe Railway, the architectural visions of Mary Colter, and the curated tourism of the Fred Harvey Company. Understanding this history requires a deep examination of the technical specializations of the mesas, the botanical chemistry of Southwestern fibers, and the strategic adaptations made by Hopi women as they encountered the "Harveycar" tourist trade, which simultaneously commodified their heritage and provided a vital economic lifeline." Accessed 4/26
Interweaving Southern Baskets is a 2018 exhibit at The Bascom which says: "Baskets were woven not only for use in the fields and homes or for sale in art galleries but also as a connection to ancestors and spirits, as designs were said to come from inside one's head, from memories of one's mother's motifs, or from the Creator. Indeed, working with one's hands in nature to gather materials and to form them into a basket was considered spiritually and physically healthy, becoming a part of the practice of occupational therapy around World War I." Accessed 12/19
Jeremy Frey: Woven is a 2024 exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art - Maine which says: "Featuring more than 50 baskets, made from natural materials like black ash and sweetgrass, Woven presents a comprehensive collection that spans a career of more than two decades. These works are intricate, mesmerizing, and expressive, emphasizing Frey's prodigious skill and prolific creative output that honors and transforms one of the oldest art forms in the northeast." Accessed 6/24
An Interwoven Legacy: The Black Ash Basketry of Kelly Church and Cherish Parrish is a 2022 exhibit at the Grand Rapids Art Museum which says: "Artists Kelly Church and Cherish Parrish both practice and expand the centuries-old Anishinabe tradition of black ash basketry. Church (b. 1967) and Parrish (b. 1989) are members of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band (Gun Lake Tribe). For their Michigan Artist Series exhibition at GRAM, this nationally acclaimed mother and daughter have created more than twenty new works, individually and collaboratively." Accessed 11/22
Native American Basketry is a 2025 text by ChatGPT which says: "Native American basketry is a living tradition that tells a story of resilience, resourcefulness, and artistic innovation spanning countless generations. Its history, as vibrant and intricate as the woven patterns themselves, reflects the deep relationship between Native peoples and the natural world around them. Long before European settlers arrived, indigenous communities across North America developed sophisticated basketry techniques that were not only utilitarian but also held rich cultural, ceremonial, and aesthetic significance." Accessed 4/25
Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America is a 2017-19 traveling exhibit from the National Basketry Organization (NBO) and the University of Missouri Museum of Art and Archaeology. The exhibit "...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." Accessed 3/18
Spotlight Series: Rivercane Resurgence is a 2017 exhibit at the Asheville Art Museum which says: "Cherokee basketmakers have longstanding relationships to rivercane - a tall, stalky cousin of bamboo. The Museum's Collection includes baskets composed of rivercane, white oak, honeysuckle and plant-based dyes such as butternut, yellow root and walnut." Also see ongoing exhibit Cherokee Baskets from the Asheville Art Museum Accessed 9/17
Tree and Tradition: Brown Ash and Native American Basketmaking an online exhibit from the Hudson Museum. Accessed January, 2015.
Online videos
May, 2023 screenshots via Google video search:
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