Cael Chappell, President
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Cael’s basket making grows from his love of basketry. Fifteen years before weaving his first basket, he founded Baskets of Africa, a fair-trade company committed to economic empowerment for basket weavers from over 20 countries. Traveling across Africa to meet weavers, Cael discovered that basketry is as diverse as it is universal. After years of commitment to the art of basketry, he wove his first basket in 2017. Cael is inspired by global weaving traditions and draws on his depth of knowledge to create his own unique baskets. His work has been included in a number of magazines and publications, as well as gallery and museum exhibitions.
Emily Dvorin, Vice-President
Kentfield, California
Emily Dvorin is returning to the board as our Vice President having served as President from 2015 to 2018. She is responsible for putting the original committee structure in place that helped (and continues to help) NBO function smoothly. As a self-taught, award-winning fiber artist, she is known for her innovative, “transordinary”, sculptural baskets.
Karyl Sisson, Secretary
Beverly Hills, California
Karyl is a studio artist living who uses basketry and needlework techniques to create two-dimensional wall art and three-dimensional sculptural forms. Her collections of vintage sewing notions and assorted manufactured sundries are the inspiration for and often the materials of her work. Her undergraduate studies were in painting and drawing, but her interest in basketry developed years later during her graduate studies in Fiber at UCLA. There she was introduced to the teaching of Bernard Kester and the writings of Ed Rossbach. Her work is in several museums across the country, including the Museum of Art & Design (NYC), the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution (DC), the Racine Art Museum (Wisconsin) and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.
Betty Kagan, Treasurer
St. Louis, Missouri
Betty returned to St. Louis, Missouri after working in HR and Financial systems in New York and London. Her partner Marty has since introduced her to the world of craft, as he collects fiber art. She attended the one day workshop in 2016 launching the “Rooted, Revived and Reinvented” show to learn about the history of basketry. In 2017 Betty participated in her first workshop with Lanny Bergner in Tacoma, giving her an added appreciation of the artistry and talent involved in making baskets. She has been involved in various non-profit boards and committees dealing with culture and the arts, global education as well as advocacy for women, children and families.
Amie Adelman
Azle, Texas
Amie Adelman is a fibers professor at the University of North Texas, Denton. She received an MFA in fibers from the University of Kansas and a BFA in fibers from Arizona State University. Through numerous travel grants, Adelman has conducted textile research in Africa (Ghana, Lesotho, South Africa, Uganda), Europe (England, Ireland, Norway, Scotland), and South America (Guatemala). Her artwork appears in numerous books and journals, including American Craft, Fiberarts, Fiber Arts Now, and Surface Design. Adelman exhibits artwork nationally and internationally and has participated in artist-in-resident programs at Lakkos Artist Residency, Heraklion, Crete (2018), Gullkistan Residency for Creative People, Laugarvatn, Iceland (2014), and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN (1998-99).
David Bacharach
Cockeysville, Maryland
David Bacharach is a self-taught artist, best known for his research and experimentation in textile, basketry, and patination techniques with copper and steel. He has exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions. His work is in the collection of the Museum of Art and Design, NY; The Craft and Folk Art Museum, CA; Ashville Art Museum, NC; Arkansas Art Museum, AK; Susquehanna Art Museum, PA; Racine Art Museum, WI: three American embassies, the White House, and numerous public and private collections.
Christina Bain
Pflugerville, Texas
Christina Bain is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at The University of Texas at Austin. She holds permanent K-12 art certification from New York State. After taking her first weaving class with Dani Sue Anderson in 2019, she discovered she has a family connection to weaving, as her great grandfather owned a small basketry company. Since 2020, she has developed a passion for fiber arts, taking classes in basketry, dying, weaving, and quilting.
Anne Bowers
Kearneyville, West Virginia
Anne Bowers has lived in West Virginia all her life and made baskets for 43 years now. The early years were spent learning, which led to production basket making and retail sales of her work as a way of supporting her family. About 20 years ago she started transitioning to teaching basketry, and has since done that full time.
Nick DeFord
Knoxville, Tennessee
Nick DeFord is an artist, educator, and arts administrator who resides in Knoxville, TN. Currently, Nick is the Chief Programs Officer at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Nick has exhibited at the Bascom Center for Visual Arts, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and the Knoxville Museum of Art and has taught past workshops at the University of Louisville, East Carolina University, Arrowmont, and Penland School of Craft. In the fall of 2018 he was a resident at the Rauschenberg Residency in Captiva, Florida. He has been a reviewer for the Ohio Arts Council and the juror for the American Tapestry Biennial 13.
Annetta Kraayeveld
Helena, Montana
Annetta’s home and studio are full of baskets: the collecting started when she was a child; the weaving, in 1994 when she found a book and begged a lesson. She is still obsessed with baskets and finds great satisfaction working with her hands, merging an age-old art form with the contemporary world. Creating functional art pieces is her passion. When not weaving, Annetta is teaching, which she enjoys as much as weaving. She has been teaching at basketry events and guilds across North America since 2000. Annetta has earned several awards, including Best of Nantucket and Viewer’s Choice at the 2013 AMB convention and Best of Mold Woven at the 2015 NCBA convention.
Leon Niehues
Huntsville, Arkansas
Leon is self-taught, making baskets, sculptural baskets, and now bentwood sculpture for 36 years. His home and studio are in Huntsville, Arkansas, which is Northwest Arkansas, the Ozarks. While using traditional materials and techniques he has added innovative ideas, methods of construction. He attributes his work’s attractiveness to the viewer because it is old and new at the same time. He harvests his materials from his 40 acre woods where he enjoys working and being part of the natural world. Leon exhibits his work widely and has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Artist and the Walter Gropius Master Artist.
José Santiago Pérez
Chicago, Illinois
José is an artist and educator who weaves plastics into containers of time, portals of memory, and spaces of belonging. José is a 2022 resident fellow at the Lunder Institute of American Art and a 2019-2020 HATCH resident at Chicago Artists Coalition. José has presented craft and performance-based work in solo and group exhibitions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston. Features and reviews have appeared in Artforum, Basketry+ Magazine, Sixty Inches from Center, Newcity Art, Art Intercepts, Other Peoples Pixels, and the Archives + Futures Podcast. He received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he currently teaches in the Fiber and Material Studies department.
Elizabeth Runyon
Paris, Kentucky
Elizabeth lives and creates in her native Paris, Kentucky, which she likes to point out is part of Bourbon County. Her large sculptural pieces are inspired by the rich history and stories of Kentucky and her process is based on traditional Appalachian ribbed basket techniques. Elizabeth discovered basketry in group classes with diverse and entertaining women when she lived in southwestern Ohio. She was immediately hooked on the meditative qualities of weaving. When she retired from full time employment in 2011 she developed her artistic voice and began making large pieces with reed. She first exhibited with “Best Of” juried exhibitions of the Ohio Craft Museum in Columbus. An early solo exhibit was at the Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati. She has since had works included in many regional and national exhibits. Recently her work was included in international exhibits in China and South Korea. Elizabeth is also active in her local Hopewell Creative Arts Guild and the guild’s gallery.
Norman Sherfield
Eureka, California
Norman creates textile sculptures using waxed linen and found objects using a basketry technique known as knotting. Imagination does not have an instinct for imitation, not to hold a faithful image of reality, as habit has accustomed us to see. Two major influences running through his work are that of biological science and the automatism of surrealism. He uses found objects, both natural and man-made as the beginning point for his knotted sculptures. Norman has been working with waxed linen and knotting since 1989. He has shown his work in Japan, France, and England as well as numerous shows throughout the United States. Knot Now, Knot Here, Knot Forever
Eric Stark
Portland, Maine
Eric is a teacher, architect, and maker who has served as the Program Chair for the University of Maine at Augusta’s Bachelor of Architecture degree for the past 12 years. An avid maker, it was a year-long academic sabbatical designed to explore analog and digital ways of making that ignited his love for basket weaving. As part of his investigations, he has traveled to North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Loch Na Fooey, Ireland, to study basket weaving with masters of the craft. He continues to explore various weaving techniques and has had his work included in a number of group and solo exhibits. Eric’s current work represents his interest in process and material, and includes coiling sweetgrass to found rocks as a means of exploring connection, pattern, form, and space.
Joe Van Wassenhove
Kirkland, Washington
Since an early age, Joe has been fascinated by weaving. He took his first basketry class in the mid 80’s in the Midwest which confirmed his interest, but other priorities delayed continuing. In 2006 he returned to basketry, attending conventions, and taking classes covering a wide range of styles, materials and techniques as well as teaching occasionally. Past secretary of the Land of Lincoln Basketweavers Association (LLBWA), Joe is now retired and living in the Seattle area. He is a current member of the Northwest Basket Weavers, Vi Phillips Basketry Guild and the LLBWA. An avid traveler, Joe has made baskets across the US and in Canada, Spain, France, Germany and Denmark.
NBO Staff
Pam Morton
Executive Director
Pam received BA in Asian History and studied Japanese ceramics as a counter point to her history studies. While not a traditional artist, Pam’s art is in “managing and supporting artists and non-profit arts organizations”. For 15 year she was the Program Director at the Marin Arts Council managing over 350 artists annually who participated in Marin Open Studios and the Arts Days events at the Marin County Fair. After leaving the Arts Council, she became the Executive Director of DrawBridge: An Arts Program for Homeless Children. DrawBridge’s therapeutic arts program helped the most vulnerable children. In the fall of 2015 she became the Executive Director of the National Basketry Organization.
Joan Ciolino
Administrative Manager
Joan has worked in arts administration for over twenty-five years and became the Administrative Manager at the National Basketry Organization in 2013. She provides bookkeeping support for two other New England organizations. A fiber enthusiast, she spends her off-hours quilting, embroidering wool felt, and paper piecing 3-dimensional sculptures. Her “Essex Clam Basket” (shown here) was in the NBO exhibition, “Every 1” in 2021.