Welcome to Skagit County

La Conner – Nine distinguished artists from seven Pacific Northwest tribal communities from Oregon to Alaska will be featured at “Qwu?qwsa - A Gathering of Native Women Artists: Celebrating Old & New Traditions” on Saturday, January 24, from 11 am to 4 pm, at the Skagit County Historical Museum. Throughout the day, the artists will demonstrate and discuss traditional and contemporary forms of weaving, basket making, quilting, fiber arts, pottery and beading. A panel discussion at 2 pm will focus on the role of women in the revival of traditional native art, the adaptation of traditions to contemporary life and the challenges for passing on these traditions. The artists’ works will be available for purchase.

The following distinguished artists will participate:

Sharon Akers, Omaha, has been beading for many years. She does beadwork and makes dance regalia for her family. Ms. Akers is accomplished in several different styles of beading and especially enjoys creating bags. Appropriately, her Native name, Haa Wate’, means “leather dress.”

Bernyce K. Courtney, of Wasco Tlingit heritage, expresses her traditions in quilting and has had her quilts on exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

Chloe French is a member of the Tlingit Killerwhale clan. Since retiring to Bellingham after teaching for many years in California, she has concentrated on Chilkat weaving, and is focusing now on completing a full-size Chilkat robe. Ms. French weaves hats and blankets, spinning her own warp on her thigh, the Tlingit way. She also creates traditional button robes and beaded necklaces and gives instruction in Chilkat weaving and button robe making.

Pat Courtney Gold, Wasco, is a featured basket weaver in the PBS series, “Craft in America” and the traveling exhibit. She is also co-producer and director of documentary film, “Northwest Native Elder Basketweavers, Honoring Our Heritage.” She helped revive the art of Wasco basket weaving with its geometric images and motifs. Ms. Gold received a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship in 2007 and the 2001 Oregon Governor’s Arts Award. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.

Fran James is an honored Lummi basket maker. Fran was raised by her grandmother on an island where they raised 500 head of sheep. She learned to gather traditional basketry materials, spin and knit from her grandmother at the age of nine. Ms. James and her son, Bill James, have been instrumental in reviving and continuing the traditional weaving and basketry skills of the Lummi people.

Betty Pasco, a Suquamish tribal member, works in traditional Coast Salish basketry as well as traditional Salish wool weaving. She has been instrumental in helping to revive these art forms and teaches her skills to Suquamish girls.

Lillian Pitt, from the Columbia River Gorge, is known as a great innovator within her tradition. She works in a wide variety of materials including clay -- using the Asian raku and anagama techniques – along with bronze and precious metals, and mixes media and technologies from around the globe. Ms. Pitt’s art has been exhibited in Europe, New Zealand, Japan and the U.S. including the Burke Museum and Heard Museum.

Lisa Telford is both a master Haida basket weaver and traditional cedar bark garment and ceremonial hat maker. Her award-winning work incorporates both contemporary and traditional methods of weaving including twining and plaiting. Lisa’s dedication to educating and preserving her culture helps to protect the disappearing traditional Haida art forms. Her baskets can be seen in the collections of The Oregon Historical Society, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, The Heard Museum, The Portland Art Museum and The Burke Museum.

Lois Chichinoff Thadei is a fourth-generation Aleut artist. She is an accomplished weaver, using indigenous wild materials, a potter and paper artist. She teaches traditional weaving and Native American art history. Ms. Thadei was the recipient of the prestigious Artist Trust GAP Award and the First Peoples Fund Cultural Capital Fellowship in 2007 and the First Peoples Community Spirit Award in 2006 among others. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally including the National Centre for Contemporary Art in Russia, the Squaxin Island Tribe Museum, the Burke Museum and the Washington State Lieutenant Governor's Invitational Art Show.

Admission: Adults: $4; Seniors & Children 6-12: $3; Families: $8; Children under 6 and Museum Members: Free. The Skagit County Historical Museum is located at 501 S. 4th Street, at the top of the hill in La Conner. For more information, call 360-466-3365 or visit www.skagitcounty.net/museum.