Call to Entry ~ 2012 NICHE Awards

NICHE magazine is now accepting applications for the 2012 NICHE Awards competition. Apply online at www.NICHEAwards.com.

Again this year in the professional division: a basketry category will recognize the talent of basket makers and artists from the United States and Canada.

The NICHE Awards annually celebrate excellence and innovation in American and Canadian craft. Additional categories include Ceramics, Fiber, Glass, Metal, Wood, Jewelry and more.

The entry deadline for the professional division 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 unique, original and creative thought

· market viability (professional entries only)

Finalists are invited to display their work in the NICHE Awards exhibit at the winter Buyers Market of American Craft.

Winners are announced at a special ceremony held during the February 2012 BMAC. Winners will receive an awards certificate, trophy, listing on the NICHE Awards website and prominent listing in the Spring 2012 issue of NICHE magazine.

There is a student division of the competition, with separate categories and an entry deadline of September 30, 2011. For more details, visit www.NICHEAwards.com.


About NICHE Magazine

NICHE magazine, the quarterly trade publication for U.S. and Canadian fine craft retailers, is published by The Rosen Group, a Baltimore-based arts marketing, publishing and advocacy firm. In addition to NICHE, The Rosen Group publishes AmericanStyle magazine, a consumer arts and lifestyle magazine for collectors of American art and fine craft, and produces the Buyers Market of American Craft, the nation's largest wholesale craft tradeshow.

Visit BasketMakers.com for additional basketry Call-to-Entry opportunities. Remember that you may subscribe to the Call-to-Entry listings or the consolidated BasketMakers Events Calendar in your favorite feed reader or ical enabled calendar program.

Please mention your interest in basketry in your friend request.

Jennifer Heller Zurich at Shakerag

Jennifer Heller Zurick will lead a workshop in Black Willow Bark Basketry at Shakerag June 19 - 25, 2011. This class will introduce weavers to black willow bark, a very strong, flexible, and beautiful fiber uncommonly used for basketry. Students will process a roll of bark into weaving elements and construct a simple square or round bottom base. They will continue to follow a plain or twill plaited pattern, or be free to design their own basket applying a variety of weaving techniques. A pot, an urn, a sculpture… the design possibilities are endless and willow bark always promises to give interesting (if not always anticipated) results! A twined border and woven rim technique will be taught, as well as cordage spinning for the handle. One small woven vessel will be completed and another begun if time permits. Bark harvesting will be discussed.

Jennifer Heller Zurick is a self-taught artist who has been professionally producing willow bark baskets since 1980. She harvests and processes the inner bark from trees growing along the banks of the Kentucky River, transforming it into one of a kind, intricately woven vessels from her rural home studio in the foothills near Berea, Kentucky. Her work has been featured in many regional and national exhibitions and she has taught numerous workshops throughout her career.

For more about Jennifer, visit www.jenniferhellerzurick.com.

For additional information about basketry events and Call-to-Entry opportunities Visit BasketMakers.com. Remember that you may subscribe to the Call-to-Entry listings or the consolidated BasketMakers Events Calendar in your favorite feed reader or ical enabled calendar program.

Please mention your interest in basketry in your friend request.

Small Expressions 2011

Vessel No. 280
by Lee Sipe
Columbia, South Carolina
photo by Nicholas Sipe

Basket artists are well represented at HGA’s Small Expressions 2011 Exhibition on view at The Tennessee State Museum, June 4-September 11, 2011.

Small Expressions 2011, the annual juried exhibition sponsored by the Handweavers Guild of America, Inc., (HGA) will feature 39 contemporary small-scale fiber art works (not to exceed 15 inches [38cm] in any direction), by 28 artists from 16 states and 4 countries. Artists selected from a field of 200 entries by Juror Jeanne Brady, head of the Fibers Department, Tennessee Tech University, Appalachian Center for Craft include:

Brigitte Amarger, Seine Port, France
Lauren Bryant, Louisville, Kentucky
Barbara Burns, Chestnut Ridge, New York
Deborah Campbell, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Si-Yun Chang, Bay Village, Ohio
Molly Elkind, Alpharetta, Georgia
Sarah Fortin, Mason, New Hampshire
Paula Giovanini-Morris, Ft. Collins, Colorado
Jess Jones, Smithville, Tennessee
Patricia Kowalski-King, Selma, Indiana
Carole Kunstadt, New York, New York
Carol Lang, Carlsbad, California*
Sang-Wook Lee, Saratoga Springs, New York
Pamela MacGregor, McClure, Ohio
Dorothy McGuinness, Everett, Washington*
Sidsel Moreb, Gainesville, Florida
Chris Motley, San Francisco, California
Ann Mullican, Hendersonville, North Carolina
Emilie Pritchard, Panama City, Florida
Wen Redmond, Strafford, New Hampshire
Jennifer Sargent, Memphis, Tennessee
Lilo Schaer, Ligerz, Switzerland
Lee Sipe, Columbia, South Carolina*
Josephine Stealey, Columbia, Missouri*
Kristy Sullins, Cookeville, Tennessee
Jan Hewitt Towsley, W. Henrietta, New York
Yvonne Wakabayashi, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Marcia Weiss, Collegeville, Pennsylvania
*basket artists

Dorothy McGuinness
Everett, WA
"On Point"
Yupo Paper, Acrylic
9" x 9.5" x 9.5"
Photo by Ken Rowe

These contemporary artists use a variety of textile techniques, and both traditional and non-traditional materials, while paying special attention to the limitations involved in small-scale work. Small Expressions was established at HGA’s 1984 Convergence® conference in Dallas, Texas. Diane Itter, the first Small Expressions juror, noted, “This does not mean a simplification of ideas or image but rather very careful attention paid to all details, without the risk of becoming precious.”
As part of HGA’s Member Excursion Weekend, which includes special lectures, a tour and studio classes, Juror Jeanne Brady, will give a gallery talk at the exhibit’s opening reception hosted by the Handweavers Guild of Nashville at the Tennessee State Museum on Sunday, June 26, from 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Small Expressions 2011 will run through September 11, 2011.
For more information call 678-730-0010.

Basket Artists at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts near Penn State

Basket Artists at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts near Penn State include Tristyn Albright, Mary Jackson and Sylvia Lehman. The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts will be from July 13 through July 17 on the streets of State College and on the adjacent campus of Penn State.

2011 BasketMakers Calendar ~ May

2011 BasketMakers Calendar ~ May
Originally uploaded by BasketMakers

I have created a set of 2011 Basketry Calendar pages that are sized to print out on 8.5" x 11" paper. Here is the page for the month of May. You can view the rest of them on http://www.flickr.com/photos/basketmakers and see more basketry graphics on http://basketmakers.com/topics/graphics/graphicsmenu.htm

Via Flickr:
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Click on the image so that it displays on a black background, then locate the link at the top of each month that says "all sizes". Select the original size image (800 x 1035) and save a copy to your computer. Then use your printer options to print to fill an 8.5 x 11 piece of cover stock or photo paper in portrait orientation. Printers and computer systems are individual, so you may have to play with it a bit. I usually select "high quality" in the print preferences. You may get different results if you chose "borderless" or other options. Enjoy!

This image pictures the basketmakers of Colonial Williamsburg at work.