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As a basket maker and jewelry designer, I've had works at the American Craft Council Show (2017), Macrostie Art Center (2017-present), Nemeth Art Center exhibition and demo (September 2014), Watermark Art Center and area arts festivals.
I am an arts instructor and avid maker, demonstrating basket making during the First City of Arts Studio Cruise (2013-17), and the Pine to Prairie Fiber Arts Festival (2018-19) among others. I’ve taught a variety of arts and crafts workshops for Bemidji Community Education (2011-17), and my own studios at Shannon’s Art & Soul (2012-17) and Wildflower Design Studios (2017-Present). In more recent years, I have been focusing on teaching exclusively basket and broom making (Beltrami Country Historical Center, Menhaga Public Schools, Red River & Grand Rapids area Fiber Arts Guilds, Textile Center, Milwaukee Irish Fest Summer School, etc.) In 2017, I was awarded a Region 2 Arts Individual Artist Fellowship. That award took me to Ireland to work with world renown basket maker Joe Hogan, to study willow weaving and an Artist Residency at Shankill Castle in Kilkenny, IE. In 2021, I completed “All in a Day’s Work” with a Creative Support for Individuals Grant, which included sixteen 8 hr days in time-lapse video, with social media updates throughout the day. I am most interested in the preservation and continuation of traditional arts. Weaving since 1997, I have experimented with everything - but prefer rattan or willow with native grasses, barks, driftwood and deer antler. Some of my online tutorials and workshops also include the use of grass and leaves in weaving and making of cordage. In the past 3 years, I have been teaching basket making workshops from Wisconsin to North Dakota, with an emphasis on rural Minnesota, with the aid of grant funds from the Minnesota State Arts Board and Region 2 Arts Council. These classes have been taught in partnership with local galleries, folk schools and arts organizations in Brainerd, Bemidji, Bagley, Grand Rapids, Park Rapids, Warroad, and Williams. In March of 2025, I was selected as a 2025 McKnight Fiber Artist Fellow. www.facebook.com/ShannonLucasWestrum.Artist |
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