On View
ᎢᏛᏍᎦ ᏫᏥᏤᎢ ᎠᎵᏰᎵᏒ Weaving Across Time
ᎢᏛᏍᎦ ᏫᏥᏤᎢ ᎠᎵᏰᎵᏒ Weaving Across Time
Dec
13
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Jul
15
Dec 13, 2021
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Jul 15, 2022
ᎢᏛᏍᎦ ᏫᏥᏤᎢ ᎠᎵᏰᎵᏒ Weaving Across Time features a recent resurgence of contemporary Eastern Band Cherokee artists who are creatively building on a centuries-old practice of basket making. Learning from mothers, grandmothers, and mentors, these nine artists sustainably harvest, prepare, and dye materials found throughout Western North Carolina, and weave them into exquisite baskets.
Their creative practice is intricately connected to the land - land that has been stolen, extracted, and depleted. The Cherokee have lived throughout what is now known as the Southeastern United States for over 15,000 years. However, broken treaties and forced removal have barred access to ancestral homelands and their natural resources. Development and climate change continue to threaten these environments. Today, mountain rivercane, one of the oldest Cherokee basket making materials, is 98% less abundant than before.
In the face of these conditions, generations of Cherokee have adapted their cultural practices, developing innovative designs and evolving traditions. The interwoven elements of land and cultural identity become embedded into the structure of each basket, a testament to an ongoing process of adaptation, transformation, and resilience. The works on view in this exhibit are more than beautiful objects. They are vessels that preserve, store, and celebrate indigenous wisdom, identity, and creativity through ongoing, contemporary practice.
This exhibition features over forty rivercane and white oak baskets, mats, and miniatures made between 2000-2021. Exhibiting Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Artists include: ᏚᏍᏓᏯᎫᎾᏱ Gabriel Crow, Faye Junaluska, Lucille Lossiah, Ramona Lossie, ᏯᏗ ᎺᏂ Betty Maney, ᏗᎳᏂ Dylan Morgan, ᎺᎵ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Mary W. Thompson, ᏎᎳᏂ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Sarah Thompson, Patricia Welch.
This exhibition was developed as part of the 2023 Center for Craft Curatorial Fellowship. This program was created in 2017 to provide emerging curators with a platform to explore and test new ideas about craft. Each curator receives an honorarium, access to professional development tools, mentoring, and the opportunity to work closely with the other Curatorial Fellows and Center for Craft staff to produce their exhibition, develop educational materials, design an exhibition catalog, and deliver a curatorial talk.
Meet the artists
Faye Junaluska
Cherokee, NC
Lucille Lossiah
Ramon Lose
Cullowhee, NC
ᏯᏗ ᎺᏂ Betty Maney
Cherokee, NC
ᏗᎳᏂ Dylan Morgan
Cherokee, NC
ᎺᎵ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Mary W. Thompson
ᏎᎳᏂ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Sarah Thompson
Patricia Welch
Meet the artists
about the artists
Photo credit: Jamie Hopper
Photo credit: Jamie Hopper
Photo credit: Jamie Hopper
ᎺᎵ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Mary W. Thompson is an esteemed second-generation basket weaver, veteran, entrepreneur, and enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI).
She expresses her appreciation for her ancestry and culture through her woven creations. The daughter of Geraldine W. Walkingstick and mother to ᏎᎳᏂ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Sarah Thompson, ᎺᎵ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Mary W. Thompson is the link to three generations of basket weavers. Thompson's work has received numerous awards and is part of the permanent collection of the University of South Alabama, Mobile. She is the recent recipient of a prestigious Arrowmont 2021 Appalachian Craft and Culture Fellow and the South Arts 2021 Folk & Traditional Arts Master Artist Fellowship. Her work has been published in the National Basketry Organization’s Tradition & Innovation in Basketry Today Juried & Invitational exhibition All Things Considered, and WNC Mountain Living Magazine. Mary has also taught basketry at the Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in Gatlinburg Tennessee, Sequoyah Museum in Vonore, Tennessee, and at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Cherokee, North Carolina. A veteran of the United States Air Force, Mary has served four terms representing the tribal members in the legislative branch of the Tribal Government. A mom, gardener, potter, and basket weaver, she continues to volunteer in the community and serves on several national and local boards.
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Photo credit: Jamie Hopper
Photo credit: Jamie Hopper
Photo credit: Jamie Hopper
Photo credit: Jamie Hopper
Photo credit: Jamie Hopper
Photo credit: Jamie Hopper
about the curator
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UNC Asheville transforms lives through leadership and education. The designated liberal arts and sciences institution for the UNC System and one of the nation’s top 10 public liberal arts universities, UNC Asheville enrolls 3,600 students and offers more than 30 undergraduate majors and a Master of Liberal Arts and Sciences degree. UNC Asheville also encourages students to take part in a nationally acclaimed undergraduate research program and participate in interdisciplinary learning. From internships and hands-on projects, to study abroad and community engagement, students experience an education that extends beyond campus into the vibrant City of Asheville, the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains and the world.
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A liberal arts college grounded in social responsibility, where hard work and community are more than just words.
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