Help create a giant outdoor basket at Nevada State Museum

SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE

Basketmakers Create Giant Outdoor Basket in Museum’s Loftin Park

Carson City, Nev. — Celebrate spring at the Nevada State Museum Saturday, May 22 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.  Visitors can partake in two great programs. Watch the Great Basin Basketmakers as they demonstrate Weaving with Natural Materials in the new Dema Guinn Concourse, and then participate as they build a giant outdoor basket in Loftin Park.   

Inside the concourse, members of the guild demonstrate a variety of basket making techniques, including twining, coiling and plaiting using natural materials such as willow, iris leaves, daylily leaves, tule and pine needles.  

Betty Hulse and other guild members invite the public to participate in creating a large community basket outside the museum.  All ages and cultures are encouraged to take part in this fun, family activity.    

The programs complement Interwoven 2010: Visions of the Great Basin Basketmakers on display in the Dema Guinn Concourse and North Changing Gallery through July 24, 2010.  Interwoven 2010 represents the finest in both contemporary and traditional basketry, including innovative woven sculptures of natural and man-made materials. 

Regular admission fees apply.  For more information, contact Deborah Stevenson, Curator of Education, at [email protected] or 775-687-4810 ext. 237. 

The focus of the Great Basin Basketmakers (GBB) is to make baskets, to learn everything possible about the tradition and techniques of basketry, and to pass this knowledge along to others.  A wide variety of programs complement the exhibit, including demonstrations, lectures, and workshops integrating traditional styles with imaginative new forms.  Basket demonstrations are free with regular admission; workshops require an additional fee.  

The Nevada State Museum actively engages people in understanding and celebrating Nevada’s natural and cultural heritage.  Exhibits highlight the state’s history, geology, plants and animals, Native American cultural heritage, Historic Carson City Mint, a replica walk-through mine, and ghost town.  Current changing exhibits include Interwoven 2010: Visions of the Great Basin Basketmakers, Slot Machines: The Fey Collection and The Art of Nature: Images from the Wildlands of Nevada.  

Due to mandatory state budget restrictions, the museum is closed Sunday – Tuesday, and open from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Wednesday – Saturday.  Please enter through the Dema Guinn Concourse. Admission: $8 adults; free for children 17 and under and museum members.  For information, call (775) 687-4810. 

The Nevada State Museum is one of seven managed by the state Division of Museums and History, an agency of the Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs. The Department serves Nevada’s citizens and visitors through cultural and information management, presentation and promotion of cultural resources, and education. The Department also includes the State Office of Historic Preservation, Nevada State Library and Archives and the Nevada Arts Council. For more information, please call Teresa Moiola at (775) 687-8323 or visit the department’s website at www.NevadaCulture.org.