Serious Skills Series: Folded Bark Baskets
Serious Skills Series: Folded Bark Baskets
Hosted by Little River Arts Council & DeSoto State Park
The Serious Skills series is a variety of classes and workshops that provide opportunities to discover a hidden talent or learn a new skill for personal enrichment. Classes are open to local residents, overnight guests and park visitors.
Bark baskets made by Eastern Woodland Indians were used for cooking, gathering berries, hauling water, storing food, as cradleboards, and even for burying the dead. Most often baskets were made from poplar, pine, ash, or birch bark that was harvested in the spring when the bark was most pliable. The bark was then folded into the desired shape and sewn with spruce root and rimmed with arrowwood or other natural materials.
About the Instructor: Andrew Lee is a professional educator with over two decades of teaching experience. The bark baskets and stone bladed knives that he creates are ways that he expresses this love of history and nature. Andrew’s Bio: www.theprimitivearts.com/about
About the class: Students will learn how bark is removed from trees, folded, and crafted into usable containers. This class is 6 hours of instruction, with time for lunch in between morning & afternoon. Logs & tools will be supplied, and students will learn how to remove, fold, & begin to dry a piece of bark. Students will take this unfinished piece and other supplies home to complete on their own, after the bark has dried. Students will also be supplied with a pre-dried folded bark basket to embellish with handle, rims, feathers, etc.
No prior experience or knowledge of basketry is necessary.
Date: June 8, 2024
Time: 9:00-4:00 (CST)
Where: DeSoto State Park in Fort Payne, Alabama. Benefield Interpretive Center next to Country Store on County Road 89
Fee: $85-includes all supplies. Adults only. Class space is limited to 6, pre-registration is required for attendance in this class. Pre-registration:
