How Far Would You Drive for a Party?

Looks like we would drive 1,265 miles, roundtrip, for a party.

Eric and I both wrote earlier about how the Renwick Basketry Exhibit at The Smithsonian was not going to have it’s Opening Night because of the government shutdown. However, the Open House party at Steve Cole’s and Martha Ware’s home was still on. So we packed up the car, dropped off Chance at the kennel and headed to D.C. on Thursday.

We were graciously hosted by Joanne and Steve Howard at their home in Virginia, a short 20 minutes from the party location. And the long trip was well worth it. We met familiar faces and new friends. It was an honor to meet so many basketmakers whose work is part of the Smithsonian’s permanent collection.

Above, left, is Miss Susi Nuss (a royal-basketmaker-sweetheart) chatting with Richard Krupa, whose basket happens to be on the cover of the book. Also, an interesting story about Richard — Steve Cole has been looking for him for over twenty years! The Smithsonian finally was able to locate him last month and notify him that his basket was not only on a cover of a book, but being exhibited in the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery! I find that fascinating. (note: you can find anything about basketry at Susi’s website here.)

Next is a pic of Mr. Basketmaker himself standing next to the smiling and talented Miss Peggy Wilcox. And then a snap taken of Steve Catsos, the husband of the one and only JoAnn Kelly Catsos. You can actually see a sliver of her, hiding behind someone. I had some other pics of her but in all, her eyes were closed! I’m sensing that was intentional. I myself am always hiding from the camera.

Here is author Nicholas Bell signing Alice Ogden’s book. I enjoyed chatting awhile with Alice and her daughter, who is preparing for the upcoming Christmas Wreath season! She will be busy for the next few weeks doing nothing but creating custom wreaths. Next to that you can see Sharon Dugan talking with Katherine Lewis and a “spouse.” I say that because it was an ongoing joke throughout the later part of the evening when everyone was signing each others’ books.

If your name tag listed your name above the picture of a basket, then you were one of the honored guests — a basket maker. On the other hand, if your name was below a basket image, you were simply a “family member” or a “spouse.” So on a few occasions, someone would step in front of me with their book, about to hand it to me and say, “oh, looks like you’re a spouse.” And off they went!

Sitting down, enjoying the porch and listening to conversations is not a spouse, but one of the honored basket makers, Mark Kolinski.

To the right is well-known Jackie Abrams involved in heavy conversation and to the left is Steve Cole himself, up on a chair, as the sun was going down, giving a poignant speech and sharing a few of the many stories he has involving every basketmaker.

One of them was about Joe Halasey who he called Banana Joe. He came the furthest distance, Hawaii, and  mentioned how Banana Joe didn’t remember him at all and that he was just one of the many tourists who have bought from him at his fruit stand! It got great laughs.

In the audience, you will probably recognize Jo Campbell-Amsler, Joanna Schanz, Billy Ray Sims, Robert Roeder, Owen Rein and Jennifer Heller Zurick.

It was a great experience and I am so proud of Eric and that he is a part of this special exhibit and in the book: A Measure of the Earth: The Cole-Ware Collection of American Baskets. It is a beautiful book and has a great story about how Nicholas Bell came into contact with Cole & Ware and their wonderful collection of baskets.

If you want to purchase the book, you can either buy it at the Smithsonian online here or you can purchase it at Amazon as well (link below).

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