“Roots, Reeds, and Vines: The Art of Basketry” opens with an outdoor reception on Thursday, June 3, from 5-7 p.m. on the Moss Arts Center patio, located at 190 Alumni Mall. The event includes an artist talk featuring Ann Coddington at 6 p.m. Coddington will discuss basketry in the context of its history to the present, as well as her own work.
Throughout history, across generations, and in all cultures and regions of the world, baskets have served as both functional objects and works of art. From the traditions of South Carolina seagrass and Appalachian basketry to innovative and intriguing contemporary forms, the Moss Arts Center’s summer exhibition celebrates the work of 12 artists whose creativity and technical skill come together in these objects of beauty and fascination.
Included among the featured artists are Kathy Dulaney of Floyd and Martha Olson of Blacksburg.
Always free and open to the public, the Moss Arts Center galleries are open Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Masks are required and social distancing guidelines should be followed in all gallery spaces.
The exhibit is on view through August 28.
“The selection of works in the exhibition spans the arc from the traditional to the innovative. Several of these artists have achieved national acclaim, have exhibited widely, and are represented in the collections of major museums,” said Margo Crutchfield, Moss Arts Center curator at large and curator of the exhibition. “Others are well known in their communities for the excellence of their work and the traditions they honor and keep alive. All of these works of art are woven, constructed with weaving techniques and patterns that draw from ancient traditions that come down from European, African, and Native American cultures to more contemporary, innovative approaches.
“As such,” Crutchfield said, “these objects are soaked with the history of their precedents. They embody and reflect the cultural histories out of which they arise, as well as the imagination, creativity, and the inventive minds of the artists that make them.”
