VISITING ARTIST: Sculptural Basketry with Sarita Westrup
Visiting Artist - Wood | Available
Explore basketry as a medium of free form sculpture in this special visiting artist workshop with contemporary basketmaker Sarita Westrup. Sarita will demo the tools, materials, techniques, and approaches she uses to twine arched baskets. On day one, we will cover prepping reeds for spokes and weavers, twining, starting an open bottom basket, starting a closed bottom basket, and backward twining wedges. Day two we will explore finishing the lip of the basket and have a show-and-tell. Other materials/media for twining and surface will be briefly discussed. No experience is necessary. This class is designed to focus on a learned skill rather than a final product and the possibilities are endless! Time outside of class may be needed to finish your basket.
Additional Information:
- A material fee of $35 will be due at registration
- Registration will close one month ahead of the start of class
- Special Cancellation Policy: Any students who wish to withdraw from the class are asked to inform Sawtooth by 4/1/25 to receive a full refund less a $20 processing fee.
- Enrollment is open to students aged 18 +
- Sculptural Basketry can take your work in surprising new directions! The images below show work by some of Sarita's past students.
Sarita Westrup
SARITA WESTRUP IS AN ARTIST AND CONTEMPORARY BASKET WEAVER ORIGINALLY FROM THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY OF SOUTH TEXAS. THROUGH THE USE OF MIXED MEDIA AND WOVEN SCULPTURAL FORMS, HER WORK EXPLORES THEMES OF TENSION, MOVEMENT AND CONTAINMENT, JOINED AND PERMEABLE SPACE, AND THE BI-CULTURAL AESTHETICS OF HER HOME. HER ARTWORK IS EXHIBITED NATIONALLY AND IS PUBLISHED IN AMERICAN CRAFT AND SURFACE DESIGN JOURNAL.
Sarita Westrup is a craft-based artist who lives and works between TX and North Carolina. Westrup was raised in the Rio Grande Valley of the south Texas borderlands and earned an MFA in Fiber Arts from the University of North Texas in 2016.
Most recently her work has been shown in "The Weight of Wonder" at the Penland Gallery in Penland, NC, and in “Holding Space: Woven Works” at Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY. She was awarded a Nasher Artist Grant in 2023, a semi-finalist for the Nest Heritage Craft Prize in 2023, and a $10,000 grant through the Teaching Artist Cohort from the Center of Craft in 2024. Westrup is currently an artist-in-residence at the Penland School of Craft in Western North Carolina and is represented by Cluley Projects Gallery in Dallas, TX.
You can view more of her work at saritawestrup.art