Birch Bark Basket and Etching Workshop at Abbe Museum

Bar Harbor, Maine - David Moses Bridges, Passamaquoddy birch bark basket and canoe maker will be leading a two day workshop on making and etching a birch bark basket with a lid.  David’s work has been exhibited at the Abbe Museum, the Eiteljorg Museum of Indians and Western Art, the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, and internationally.  David is renowned for etching traditional double curl patterns in bark, and his stitching with spruce roots along basket seams distinguishes his work from other birch bark artists.

Participants will learn how to fold birch bark into a traditional food storage basket, stitch the seams with spruce root, make a lid, and etch the bark using their own designs, or David’s stencils.  Each person will go home with a unique work of art, and an experience to share and remember for a lifetime.  Registration is required, Abbe members: $75. Non-members: $120 (includes individual membership to the Abbe Museum).  For more information call Raney Bench at 288-3519.

Also at the Abbe this week Fred Tomah, well-known Maliseet basketmaker/artist will be demonstrating his unique style of basketmaking using ash splints, on  Thursday, August 2nd and Friday, August 3rd from 11:00am-3:00pm at the Abbe Museum in downtown Bar Harbor. He will be working on a basket throughout the day and will have completed baskets, tools and raw materials on display.  This program is underwritten by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission and Bar Harbor Bank and Trust.

The mission of the Abbe Museum is to inspire new learning about the Wabanaki Nations with every visit. The Abbe holds the largest and best-documented collection of Wabanaki basketry of any museum in the world and holds a collection of over 50,000 archeological, historic and contemporary objects.  Current Abbe exhibits include 2012 Waponahki Student Art Show,  Indians and Rusticators: Wabanakis and Summer visitors on Mount Desert Island 1840s – 1920s, Transcending Traditions: The Next Generation and Maine Indian Basketry, Layers of Time: Archaeology at the Abbe Museum.

The Abbe Museum in Downtown Bar Harbor and at Sieur De Monts Spring in Acadia National Park are open seven days a week throughout the summer.  Museum hours are from 10:00am - 4:00pm; admission is $6 for adults $2 for children ages 6-16 and free for children ages 5 and under.