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Current Exhibition

UPcoming Exhibition

past Exhibition

On View 

ᎢᏛᏍᎦ ᏫᏥᏤᎢ ᎠᎵᏰᎵᏒ Weaving Across Time

ᎢᏛᏍᎦ ᏫᏥᏤᎢ ᎠᎵᏰᎵᏒ Weaving Across Time

On view

Dec

13

Jul

15

Through

Dec

13

Jul

15

When

Dec 13, 2021

Jul 15, 2022

A Cherokee handmade basket on a clean white surface, showing the fine detail of the piece.

Photo credit:

ᏚᏍᏓᏯᎫᎾᏱ Gabriel Crow, "Eye of the Sacred Bird," 2020.

Current Exhibition

UPcoming Exhibition

past Exhibition

On View 

ᎢᏛᏍᎦ ᏫᏥᏤᎢ ᎠᎵᏰᎵᏒ Weaving Across Time

On view

Dec

13

Jul

15

Through

Dec

13

Jul

15

When

Dec 13, 2021

Jul 15, 2022

A Cherokee handmade basket on a clean white surface, showing the fine detail of the piece.

Photo credit:

ᏚᏍᏓᏯᎫᎾᏱ Gabriel Crow, "Eye of the Sacred Bird," 2020.

Current Exhibition

UPcoming Exhibition

past Exhibition

On View 

ᎢᏛᏍᎦ ᏫᏥᏤᎢ ᎠᎵᏰᎵᏒ Weaving Across Time

On view

Dec

13

Jul

15

Through

Dec

13

Jul

15

When

Dec 13, 2021

Jul 15, 2022

A Cherokee handmade basket on a clean white surface, showing the fine detail of the piece.

Photo credit:

ᏚᏍᏓᏯᎫᎾᏱ Gabriel Crow, "Eye of the Sacred Bird," 2020.

FRONT & CENTER

Front & center

ᎢᏛᏍᎦ  ᏫᏥᏤᎢ  ᎠᎵᏰᎵᏒ:  ᎪᏥᎩ  ᏣᎳᎩ  ᏔᎷᏣ  ᏗᎬᏗ,  ᎦᏙ,  ᏃᎴ  ᎪᎵᏍᏗᎯ

Weaving Across Time: Contemporary Cherokee Basket Making, Land, and Identity

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.

PLAN YOUR VISIT →

OPENING RECEPTION

Sat

,

Dec

11

,

5:00 pm

7:00 pm

Where

Bresler Family Gallery

67 Broadway St., Asheville, NC, 28801

CURATed By

Exhibition management BY

Installation by

Exhibition design

Edited by

Advisory Committee

ᏓᎪᏔ ᎤᏬᏗᎨ Dakota Brown, Director of Education, Museum of the Cherokee Indian

ᏚᏍᏓᏯᎫᎾᏱ Gabriel Crow, Artist


Anya Montiel, Curator, Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian

Exhibition Credits

Weaving Across Time was collaboratively curated with the Exhibiting Artists and Advisors and organized by Marilyn Zapf, Director of Programs and Curator, and the Center for Craft. Special thanks to Sarah Darro, Gallery Manager at the Center for Craft, for her support in planning this exhibition. 

Translations by Marie Junaluska.

Graphic Design by

Kristi Pfeffer

Photography by

Exhibition photos by Black Box Photography. Press photos by Alyssa Ruberto.

exhibition events

The events for this exhibition have passed. See our full calendar for upcoming events.

Meet the artists

ᏚᏍᏓᏯᎫᎾᏱ Gabriel Crow

Cherokee, NC

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

Field Building

CRAFT RESEARCH TALK

View the catalog

View the catalog

View the catalog

about the artists

Photo credit: Jamie Hopper

ᏚᏍᏓᏯᎫᎾᏱ Gabriel Crow

Photo credit: Jamie Hopper

Photo credit: Jamie Hopper

ᎺᎵ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Mary W. Thompson

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).

Continue reading...

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.

Photo credit: Jamie Hopper

Photo credit: Jamie Hopper

Photo credit: Jamie Hopper

Photo credit: Jamie Hopper

Photo credit: Jamie Hopper

ᏎᎳᏂ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Sarah Thompson

about the curator

No items found.

exhibition Images

exhibition Images

ᎢᏛᏍᎦ ᏫᏥᏤᎢ ᎠᎵᏰᎵᏒ Weaving Across Time

is

curated

by

2023

Curatorial

Fellow

and

organized

by

the

Center

for

Craft.

The 2023 Curatorial Fellowship is supported, in part, by the Stoney Lamar Craft Endowment Fund.

Thank you to Phillips, the leading auction house in art and design, for sponsoring the Curatorial Fellowship show.

The

Center

for

Craft

is

supported

in

part

by

the

,

a

division

of

the

Department

of

Natural

and

Cultural

Resources.

2023

Curatorial

Fellow

This exhibition was supported, in part, by the John W. and Anna H. Hanes Foundation,

and Buncombe County Government.

The 2023 Curatorial Fellowship is supported, in part, by the Stoney Lamar Craft Endowment Fund.

Thank you to Phillips, the leading auction house in art and design, for sponsoring the Curatorial Fellowship show.

The

Center

for

Craft

is

supported

in

part

by

the

,

a

division

of

the

Department

of

Natural

and

Cultural

Resources.

2023

Curatorial

Fellow

A special thanks to

and the

for sponsoring Hammer and Hope.

The 2023 Curatorial Fellowship is supported, in part, by the Stoney Lamar Craft Endowment Fund.

Thank you to Phillips, the leading auction house in art and design, for sponsoring the Curatorial Fellowship show.

The

Center

for

Craft

is

supported

in

part

by

the

,

a

division

of

the

Department

of

Natural

and

Cultural

Resources.

The 2023 Curatorial Fellowship is supported, in part, by the Stoney Lamar Craft Endowment Fund.

Thank you to Phillips, the leading auction house in art and design, for sponsoring the Curatorial Fellowship show.

Preservers, Innovators, and Rescuers of Culture in Chiapas is supported, in part by,

The Center for Craft is supported, in part, by the

Aram Han Sifuentes is a recipient of the Center for Craft’s 2022 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellowship. This substantial mid-career grant is awarded to two artists to support research projects that advance, expand, and support the creation of new research and knowledge through craft practice.

This

exhibition

is

supported

in

part

by

the

the

and

For a full listing of the generous funders supporting the Center for Craft and our programming visit centerforcraft.org/support

This

exhibition

is

supported

in

part

by

the

the

and

the

a

division

of

the

Department

of

Natural

and

Cultural

Resources.

For a full listing of the generous funders supporting the Center for Craft and our programming visit centerforcraft.org/support

The

Center

for

Craft’s

John

Cram

Partner

Gallery

presented

in

collaboration

with

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.

and

A liberal arts college grounded in social responsibility, where hard work and community are more than just words.

.

This

exhibition

is

supported

in

part

by

the

the

and

For a full listing of the generous funders supporting the Center for Craft and our programming visit centerforcraft.org/support

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Connections in the Making

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17

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31

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17

Jul

13

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Susana Maria Gómez Gonzalez, Maria Gonzalez Guillén, and Anastacia Juana Gómez Gonzalez with their artworks in Zinacantán in Chiapas, México.

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Nov

17

Jul

13

Learn More