State of the Craft: Sea Grass Baskets

816 Bull St,Columbia SC 29208

15 April, 2023

Description

Contemporary basketmakers and sea grass harvesters tell us that high-quality sweetgrass has become increasingly harder to come by, despite a decades-long effort (1988-2008) to esure its continued availability. Join us to learn about what has happened to sweetgrass along the South Carolina coast since 2008. Help us brainstorm what the future holds for the plant that historically has been so important to this Gullah Geechee traditional art. This event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the conversation. Register on Eventbrite or by calling 803-777-2876 to reserve your spot. This event is offered in connection with Sewn through Time: Sweetgrass Basketmakers Reimagine a Tradition, on display through April 21, 2023, at the University of South Carolina's McKissick Museum. About the Panelists Karl Ohlandt recently retired as Landscape Ecologist at Spring Island Trust. An expert on native South Carolina plants, he has been involved in numerous sweetgrass plantings, including at Dewees Island. Georgette Wright Sanders is a McClellanville-based, spiritually-inspired sea grass basketmaker and potter. In 2013, she was called to found By His Design Legacies Tied By Nature, the shop where she sells her work. Sanders also sells her work at farmers’ markets and the Charleston City Market. Tommy Socha is a plant specialist who played a leadership role in the Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District’s efforts to integrate sweetgrass plantings into coastal renourishment projects, 2006-2008. Angela Stoneworth is a Lowcountry native who learned to sew baskets from her grandmother, Mrs. Rebecca Jefferson. After school she used to walk to her grandmother’s basket stand, to practice making and selling her baskets. Darryl Stoneworth was born and raised in New York, but has family roots in Charleston. In 2009, his wife Angela taught him how to sew baskets and their business, DNA Baskets, was born. The couple sells their work at the Charleston City Market and at their Hwy 17 basket stand in Mt. Pleasant. Lynette Dingle Youson is a fifth-generation sweetgrass basket weaver from the Lowcountry of South Carolina. She helps protect coastal habitats where basketry grasses grow and organizes harvestings at St. Stephen Power House. One of her Rice Fanner Baskets is on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.