Sticks, Twigs and Ties | Basketry Workshop with Jo Stealey

Event Details

Jo Stealey, Director, University of Missouri School of Visual Studies and Professor of Fibers | Co-curator of Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America (on view at South Dakota Art Museum Oct. 19 - Jan. 12).

Recognized nationally for her own sculptural baskets work. View her bio here.

Explore traditional basketry techniques such as twining, lashing and random weave to create armatures for sculpture. Complete the sculptural basket using traditional and non-traditional materials such as reed, fabric, yarn, wire or recycled elements to finish the forms in unexpected ways. The structural possibilities of the armature combined with historical and new materials will lead to inventive, personalized sculptural baskets.

In this workshop, we will explore simple methods to develop sculptural woven forms. These techniques offer many options for size, form, symmetry (or asymmetry) and surface texture of a sculptural form. The materials selected to fill in the form (which may be very different from reed and could include almost anything), will create a unique sculptural basket.

Your creativity and personal vision are an important aspect of this workshop. Examples of materials to bring are dyed reed, materials from your environment or any flexible material that could be woven into your form. You may also include other materials that could be attached onto the form such as buttons, safety pins, beads, et cetera. The list below is based on what I normally use, however please feel free to bring other materials that you enjoy. I suggest you scavenge your home to see what you could bring, rather than buying new materials.

Techniques Taught:

1. Space twined forms.
2. Random weaving.
3. Embellishment techniques: looping (knotless netting), lashing, and random weaving.

Registration:

• Registration fee: $80 ($64 for SDSU students and museum members with their 20% membership discount) check or cash at registration.
• Includes all materials; students are welcome to bring additional materials to further personalize their sculptural basket (see above).
• Class limit: 12.
• Registration deadline: Oct. 26.

Materials Provided:

• No. 5 round reed.
• No. 3 round reed.
• No. 2 round reed.
• No.3 waxed linen – natural.
• No. 2 waxed linen – black.
• No. 3 waxed linen – magenta.
• Scissors.
• Masking tape.
• 10-12 clothes pins.

Additional Suggested Materials:

• A few images or an actual example of your work to share with the group.
• Garden clippers.
• Needles w/ an eye large enough for yarns, raffia, etc. to go through.
• Measuring tape.
• Old towel.
• Awl​.
• Any basketry tools normally use in your work (i.e. pliers, packing tool, gardening scissors to cut reed/sticks, etc.).
• Additional materials for stakes (i.e. reed, sticks from trees, metal or plastic rods, any stiff material that is of interest to you).
• Additional materials to weave (i.e. No. 1 or No. 2 and No. 5 round reed, waxed linen, cloth strips, thin pliable wire, vines, raffia, yarns, heavy threads, etc.).

For further information or to register for these workshops, call us at 605-688-5423 or stop by the museum.

Event Audience

Public includes SDSU Faculty/Staff/Students SDSU Faculty/Staff SDSU Students

Building Access Directions

Participants needing wheelchair access can contact us ahead of the class and we'll have someone at the sidewalk level to let you into the museum (or use the ramp to the museum entrance). Handicapped parking is available on the north side of Harvey Dunn Street, just west of the museum as well as in the museum parking lot on the south side of Harvey Dunn Street.

Parking Information

Parking is available just west of the Art Museum on Harvey Dunn Street, on the street and in the Museum's free lot as well as the lot in front of West Hall. No passes or permits are needed on Saturdays. Handicapped parking is available immediately west of the museum on Harvey Dunn Street and in the Museum's parking lot on Harvey Dunn Street.

Jo Stealey's bio and website