Virtual Wabanaki Winter Market set for Dec. 12
The University of Maine Hudson Museum and the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance (MIBA) will host the annual Wabanaki Winter Market online from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Dec. 12.
This year’s virtual format will include artist demonstrations of traditional birch bark, brown ash and sweetgrass basketry and beadworking, along with singing and storytelling by MIBA members. Winter Market activities will be streamed live on the museum’s YouTube channel.
Featured artists representing the Penobscot Nation include Barry Dana, birch bark artist; storyteller Carol Dana; multimedia artist James Francis; singer Firefly; and basketmaker and beadworker Jennifer Neptune. Passamaquoddy basketmakers Gabriel Frey and Geo Neptune will offer demonstrations, as will Micmac basket artist Eldon Hanning.
A Wabanaki Artist directory, available now, provides artist bios and contact information to connect shoppers and collectors with musicians, performers and demonstrators, and traditional artisans selling one-of-a-kind creations.
More information about the event, which is presented with support from Bangor Savings Bank and the Maine Expansion Arts Fund of the Maine Community Foundation, is online. Reasonable accommodations may be requested by calling the Hudson Museum at 207.581.1904.