Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

Growing, gathering, and weaving with plant fibers from the Pacific Northwest

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Artist in Residence at IslandWood

June 10, 2012 By Melinda

IslandWood

 

This March I was delighted to spend two weeks as an Artist in Residence at IslandWood, a ‘School in the Woods’ on Bainbridge Island, just a ferry ride away from the city of Seattle.  I worked with competent, considerate  5th graders from Aberdeen, Bremerton, and Mercer Island; and junior-high/high school age students from Seattle and Pennsylvania.  This was my tenth year as a visiting artist at this wonderful residential environmental learning center.  I’ve grown as a teaching-artist through the rich exchange between the education team of scientists, technology specialists, graduate students, volunteers, and all the supporting staff, who also teach the students through their work at IslandWood; those who prepare the food, maintain the grounds and buildings, and the many people who  in a multitude of ways, keep the program running.

I’m  grateful to Jessica Henderson, the present Art Education Coordinator; to Maketa Wilborn, for his many years of support in this position; and especially I’d like to thank Dr. LeeAnn Woolery, for setting up this wonderful program a decade ago and inviting me as their first Artist in Residence in the Pilot Program.

Filed Under: Students, Weaving Nature, Workshops Tagged With: 4th -6th graders, art, artist in residence, clam, clam shell rattle necklace, ethnobotany, nature beads, necklace, planting Western Red Cedar, rattle, Red Osier Dogwood, science, Small Plant Fiber Projects, spring, students, teaching, Western red cedar, willow, workshop

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About Melinda

Thirty years ago, while sitting on the beach playing with my young children, I made my first basket out of a pile of willow trimmings someone had tossed there. The experience of weaving with the materials at hand while being together with my sons on a beautiful Pacific Northwest shoreline, kindled a passion for creating art from natural plant materials. I thank my family, my community, and all my teachers for cultivating this gift in me.
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