SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
Carson City, Nev. Join Master Artists Audrey Frank and her step-mother Brenda Frank at the Nevada State Museum from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Saturday, June 5, 2010, for a rare opportunity to learn more about the art of pine needle basket making.
Audrey and Brenda pass on her family traditions of basket making through classes and workshops where they demonstrate weaving techniques and discuss their Native heritage and culture. Participants learn about traditional basket materials, techniques, processing, styles and their importance in the Washoe and other Great Basin tribes. Among Native Americans in the Great Basin, pine needle basket weaving has a unique story because it is primarily a one-family tradition and was initially learned from non-Native teachers.
The Frank family tree branches out to both the Summit Lake Paiute and Washoe Tribes of northern Nevada. The Frank women weave a signature design into their basket lids; Audrey often incorporates a small pine cone on the top and Brenda’s lids may include beads.
This program is provided in partnership with the Folklife Program of the Nevada Arts Council, a state agency, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. The Nevada State Museum is located at 600 N. Carson Street in Carson City. For more information contact Deborah Stevenson at 775-687-4810, ext. 237.
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 Rock Art Perspectives: Petroglyphs and Pictographs, 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: $6 for adults, $4 for seniors, and free for members and children under 18. 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.
