SCC
Heritage Arts Institute to offer basket making
Beginning in March, local basket maker Debra Mills will
serve as instructor in the first basket weaving class
to be offered through Southwestern Community College's
new Heritage Arts Institute.
Basket
maker Debra Mills |
The
class will meet Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m., March 20 through April 21.
The course is designed for the beginner and intermediate
weaver. Participants will complete several projects
designed to provide them with a variety of skills in
traditional and contemporary basket making.
"I look forward to working with students who want
to learn basket weaving while also investigating the
wide range of methods and materials available to us
as artists and craftsmen," Mills said. "I
am particularly pleased to be associated with the birth
of the Heritage Arts Institute as the first basket making
instructor."
Mills employs a variety of methods in her own work and
continually experiments with new shapes, patterns and
materials. Yet she says she still favors the traditional
shapes and patterns of Appalachian baskets such as egg
(or gizzard) baskets, market baskets and bushel baskets.
Mills took her first formal basket making course at
Southwestern Community College and then continued to
study and learn from many outstanding basket makers
in the region. She is a member of the NC Basket Makers
Association, the Tennessee Basket Makers Association
and the National Basket Makers Organization.
Mills works out of her studio on Galbraith Creek in
Swain County and exhibits her work in regional galleries
and craft shows.
The registration fee for the course is $60. Materials
will cost approximately $75. The class will meet at
the SCC Swain County Center. For more information or
to pre-register, call the SCC center nearest you. These
include: Jackson and Cashiers centers, 828.586.4091
(toll free - 828.447.4091); Cherokee Center, 828.497.7233;
Macon Center, 828.369.7331; and Swain Center, 828.488.6413.
Also, visit the SCC web site at www.southwesterncc.edu.
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