Inspiring finds in the USA
This post travels coast to coast, to celebrate and explore artisans from different regions who created and influenced arts & crafts in America. Take a look at six amazing finds, along with a tidbit of history surrounding their legacy.
1. The “Votes for Women” motto was used in 1909 at the famous suffrage rally at Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island. The collection is inspired by the original tea service that was created for Alva Vanderbilt, a leading suffragist of the time. This luncheon plate is a reproduction of the service used during that open house.
2. Morning (Mourning) Star Woven Cotton Throw Blanket featuring the woven designs of Debra and Robyn Sparrow, integrates the rich history and culture of the Coast Salish people. The blanket is an interpretation of the celestial body Venus and its significance to the Salish people — a reminder of loved ones that have gone before them. The Sparrow Sisters have been continually inspired by their ancestors’ strength, creativity and intelligence.
3. The founder of the arts and crafts movement in Chicago, Frank Loyd Wright sought to inspire the American middle class to live a more beautiful life—and his Usonian homes and the furniture he designed for them supported his goal of making good design accessible to everyone. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has teamed up with Inside Weather to launch Usonia—a capsule collection of affordable furnishings inspired by Wright’s Usonian designs. The Edgar Lounge Chair is an homage to the Edgar Kaufmann House, more commonly known as Fallingwater. The design is upholstered in shades favored by Wright, and it features cantilever construction and wooden slats underneath to store magazines.
4. From ALLTRIBES in Arizona, this Natural Kingman Turquoise Cluster Cuff, is designed with five stunning rows of Arizona nuggets from local mines and finished with a hammered linear pattern. Priding themselves with an extensive collection of authentic Native American jewelry, Alltribes unique handmade pieces, are crafted by Native American Artists/silversmiths.
5. From California, the board we are highlighting is titled “Fish on Fish”. The artist is Tonia Senoo, who is not only a passionate artist but also an accomplished pilot! Her love for surfing and the ocean shows through in her surfboard art as well as her canvas paintings and murals.
6. Sweetgrass baskets from the lowcountry. The featured basket was made by Mary Jackson, a basketmaker who lives in Charleston, SC. Starting from a single knot, Jackson meticulously selects only the best sweetgrass and begins to tightly coil the fibers, binding them—with painstaking precision—with palmetto strips, and then continuously feeding grasses into the coil. Her baskets are considered works of art, as she is often referred as the ambassador, advocate, and Lowcountry legend whose many titles and accolades reflect more than half a century dedicated to elevating the art of sweetgrass basketmaking.
Arts and crafts are all part of a cultural story. Curating our homes to reflect our travels, is the ideal way to celebrate any trip with an item that is unique to its region, and carries much significance in the native community. We hope that you are inspired to do a little local shopping on your next adventure to bring home a piece of the journey that will be a part of your story.
Many thanks for content and images: New York Historical Society, Woven Art & Beyond, Inside Weather, Dwell, Alltribes, Charleston Magazine, Etsy, Carolina designs.com blog.
