LAUREL — The contemporary basket exhibition Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America is currently showing at Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. The exhibition will be on view in the Museum’s Lower Level Galleries through Nov. 12.

Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America provides a historical overview of American basketry from its origins in Native American, immigrant, and slave communities to its presence within the contemporary fine art world. Historical baskets were rooted in local landscapes and shaped by cultural traditions. The rise of the industrial revolution and mass production at the end of the 19th century led basket makers to create works for new audiences and markets, including tourists, collectors, and fine art museums.

Today the story continues. Some contemporary artists seek to maintain and revive traditions practiced for centuries. Others combine age-old techniques with nontraditional materials to generate cultural commentary. Still, others challenge viewers’ expectations by experimenting with form, materials, and scale. Rooted, Revived, Reinvented is a traveling exhibition organized by the National Basketry Organization and the University of Missouri. This exhibition is divided into five sections: Cultural Origins, New Basketry, Living Traditions, Basket as Vessel, and Beyond the Basket.

LRMA’s rich history in basketry began with its first official gift in 1923 of approximately 450 Native American baskets donated by Catherine Marshall Gardiner. This remarkable collection has become the hallmark of our institution, and Gardiner’s passion and vision are alive and well. The strong roots of our Native American basket collection are the inspiration for many of the contemporary baskets in this exhibition and bridges centuries of techniques and designs.

In conjunction with the exhibition, a book entitled Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America, has been released this summer by Schiffer Publishing and is available in the LRMA Gift Shop. It features 10 contributing authors from different areas of expertise. Additionally, the book includes 248 photos, insightfully showing how baskets convey meaning through the artists’ selection of materials, the techniques they use, and the colors, designs, patterns, and textures they employ.

The National Basketry Organization is a non-profit organization that unites people interested in basketry to provide education and to promote basket making. Founded in the late 1990’s, the organization now has over 700 members, most of whom live in the United States and Canada. Although most of NBO’s members are basket makers, membership includes collectors, gallery owners, scholars, craft and art schools, and museums. LRMA Registrar Tommie Rodgers was a founding board member of the organization.

The exhibition at Lauren Rogers Museum of Art is generously sponsored by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi and Regions Bank. The national tour of the exhibition is generously supported in part by the National Basketry Organization, University of Missouri, the Windgate Charitable Foundation, the Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design, and numerous private donors.

Lauren Rogers Museum of Art is a private, non-profit organization operating for the benefit of the public. The Museum is located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Seventh Street in historic downtown Laurel. The galleries are open from 10 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free, but donations are accepted. 

For more information call 601-649-6374 or visit www.LRMA.org.