WilloWood Inn hosts Native American Artisans
With fall in full swing, the Baraboo Artisan Backyard Art Walk and Drive was a welcome option this past Saturday for folks to get out and enjoy the outdoors and work of local artisans.
According to the Baraboo Artisan Backyard Art Walk and Drive Facebook page, ten stops on the tour hosted different artisans around the Baraboo, Wisconsin area. The public had an opportunity to talk with each local artist and craftsman about their art making processes. It also stated, it was “a special day for Baraboo's Creative Community with social distancing observed, following the ‘Safer in Sauk’ Guidelines.”
One of the stops was the WilloWood Inn located just South of the downtown area, owned and operated by Hoocąk (Ho-Chunk) Angie Lowe. The venue offered the public the opportunity to view Native American artwork and learn its significance to the artists and their cultures.
Lowe acknowledged The Art Walk and Drive is the brainchild of one of the areas local artisans Char TerBeest-Kudla. “She is interested in helping local artisans during this pandemic as it’s hard for artisans to make money right now,” Lowe said. WilloWood Inn got involved because as Lowe put it, “I wanted to be supportive of some of our local Native American artists.”
When Lowe first purchased the WilloWood Inn back in 2019, it was her wish to represent the Native American people locally and provide an outlet for artwork and music, making “a more inviting property”.
Making a connection with Hoocąk tribal member and Little Eagle Arts Foundation (LEAF) Founder and Director Melanie Tallmadge-Sainz, Lowe asked Tallmadge-Sainz if she could bring artisans from LEAF to join in the Art Walk and Drive. “Melanie has been instrumental in helping us gather the artists here today. I also need to give a shout out to my buddy Shane Funmaker who was very helpful in organizing this and doing a lot of the social media for this event. We're happy to have everyone here today.”
Following are brief overviews of the Native American artists that participated;
Heather Beal (Hoocąk), Smokey's Kettle Corn -
Heather and husband Nathan, started Smokey's Kettle Corn in 2019 with their savings. “We wanted to work together. We started our homestead, but we wanted to get to work together a little quicker. We came up with Smokey's Kettle Corn, making fresh squeezed organic lemonade and kettle corn. We try to stay non-GMO. Angie asked us to be here a few weeks ago,” Heather said smiling. The Beals have previously set up at the Reedsburg farmers market. “That's where we would see Melanie’s aunts, my aunts as well. And so, they said to Melanie, ‘hey, invite Heather and Nate’s Kettle Corn.’ So, I feel really blessed to be asked to be here. It’s great to see all of the artwork. The Beals added that they do set up for charitable organizations, with their first experience in 2019 at the Hillsboro Lions Club Breakfast and Auto Show. “That was great. We also contributed a basket for the silent auction so that they could make more money.”
The Beals have set up before at the Hillsboro, Wisconsin Dells, and Mauston farmers markets. “If anybody gets a hold of us, of course we're going to take a look at our calendar and see what we have available,” Heather said.
Smokey’s is also available for private and corporate events.
Contact:
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/tastiestpopcorn/
E-mail- smokeyskettlecorn@hotmail.com
(608)-844-4797
Karen Ann Hoffman (Oneida), raised beadwork-
Hoffman creates Iroquois raised beadwork, a dimensional style of beadwork, it is a cultural hallmark of the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy which include the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora. It should be noted that the Iroquois Confederacy originally consisted of five separate nations- the Mohawks, who call themselves Kanienkehaka, or "people of the flint country,” the Onondaga, “people of the hills,” the Cayuga, “where they land the boats,” the Oneida, “people of the standing stone,” and the Seneca, “the people of the big hill”.
Iroquois Raised Beadwork is characterized by lines of beads that arch above the textile surface for a three-dimensional effect, typically sewn onto velvet.
“Our homeland is in the eastern Great Lakes around the Niagara Falls, but in about 1820 there was a forced removal of the Oneida from our homelands and a good portion of us ended up here in Wisconsin. The bead work designs go back thousands of years, actually, tens of thousands of years. The forms and designs that I use in my Iroquois raised beadwork I first saw etched into stone or scratched into shell pieces that are actually said to be ten-thousand years old. Those shapes and forms stay with us. The materials that we use to express them change over time, but the core of the culture does not,” Hoffman said.
Contact:
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/karenann.hoffman
Email- Karen.A.Hoffman@altria.com
(715)345-0403
Terri O’Connor (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians) painter-
O'Connor owner of Native Turtle, mainly works with acrylics, although she includes watercolors, pastels, and pencils. Admittedly, O’Connor loves working with graphite pencils.
“I started painting probably when I was a young teenager in high school. My dad was an artist and he kind of helped me get started in oils. He got me some oil paints, and I've been working on doing art shows for ten to fifteen years.”
“We're at this beautiful place in Baraboo, the WilloWood Inn, who have been wonderful hosts. We got a great day out here just a beautiful place to be today, and definitely enjoying the group of native artists that are displaying here.”
Contact:
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/nativeturtle64/
Web page- https://www.nativeturtle.com/
Email- nativeturtle64@gmail.com
(608)-576-0453
Chris Sweet (Hoocąk), painter-
Chris Sweet works mostly in acrylics. Sweet enjoys painting on different fabrics and materials including cloth bags, or as he puts it, “anything I can, you know, really get my hands on because paint is pretty versatile”.
Sweet studied art for a little bit out in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and eventually made his way back to Wisconsin. “I didn't really do much until four years ago, and then had my first show at the Native Presence Gallery in Wisconsin Dells. Things just kind of blew up from there. So, here I am today. This is kind of my main thing and I'm doing what I love,” said Sweet adding, “I'm really happy to be here at the WilloWood Inn. My sister owns it. She took over like 18 months ago. She just loves it here and it's a really beautiful spot, it's right by Devil's Lake. There's just a beautiful area here, I'm really happy to be a part of this.”
Sweet’s wife Chrissy stated she was happy to be able to support him. “I really think he has a beautiful gift that he got from the Creator. I'm happy that he's able to share it with people.”
Contact:
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/csweetdzine
Instagram- csweetnativeart
E-mail- csweetnativeart@gmail.com
Alexa, Aydrian, and James Day (multiple tribes), different mediums-
The Days hail from a few different tribes. James is Ojibwe, his wife Alexa and son Aydrian are Hoocąk, Lakota, Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomie. Residing in Sutton's Bay, Michigan, the Days are a family of artists that like to share their beadwork, paintings, ledger art, sewing, applique, and anything else they feel people would enjoy.
“My son Aydrian loves to bead and loves to paint. I also love to bead and make ledger art, where I take old documents and put beautiful Native American designs on. My wife is a jack of all trades as well. She is a master bead worker as well as an Anishinaabe porcupine quill worker and seamstress. Together, we love to travel and share our work,” said James.
He continued, “We think it's an awesome opportunity to get out of the house, nice change of pace, especially in the time and situation of our current pandemic we are having in the country. So, it's nice to be out and sharing our work as well as, you know, being able to come in and see some other beautiful artisans as well. And the drive was not bad at all. The countryside is beautiful right now this time of year, and it's good to be here and then enjoy the last of the beautiful, warm weather we have.”
Contact:
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/All-in-a-Days-Work-104556144503327/
Instagram- @allinadayzwork
James Email- jamesday00@hotmail.com
(231)-492-3271
Alexa Email- aydriansmama@gmail.com
(231)-499-2054
Leah Winneshiek (Hoocąk), jewelry-
Winneshiek, who lives in Wonewoc, Wisconsin, was born and raised in Wisconsin Dells, shared she always has had a love for jewelry. “I call it Earth Jewelry by Leah. It came about with my love for semi-precious stones, polished stones, and crystals. I also use sterling silver with my work, or gold craft wiring, but the earring hooks are gold filled earring hooks and sterling silver earring hooks.” She noted that the four directions and everything to do with nature are her inspirations, and the reasons she delights in keeping designs simple, using all-natural earth-made materials like stones, crystals, sterling silver, and copper beads.
Speaking on the venue Winneshiek said, “I think I'm very fortunate to be here. I love it here, it's peaceful. I'm enjoying sitting underneath this grandpa willow tree behind me, and it's fall right now, so all the trees are colored different. It's just really beautiful,” she said smiling.
Contact:
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/earthjewelrybyleah/
E-mail- earthjewelrybyleah@gmail.com
(608)-462-3734
Melanie Tallmadge-Sainz (Hoocąk), porcupine quill work, ceramics, and beadwork-
“This has been kind of unusual for me (today), because I'm actually not representing LEAF. I'm representing myself and my art and the teaching that I do and things like that because technically I'm part time with LEAF. So, I'm filling the other time with my art. My art is a combination of mostly beadwork and porcupine quill work. I also love to do ceramics and working clay. I've kind of got a mishmash of all different things and a good price range from inexpensive things that are five-dollars or eight-dollars, to probably my most expensive item, an eight-thousand-dollar bag that has a portrait of the person who really planted the seed of porcupine quill work in me. That's my Teega (uncle in Hoocąk language, pronounced day-guh) Michael Winneshiek. It took me a couple years to finish that, it’s still kind of a work in progress. I still see things that I want to add.”
Reminiscing, she said, “It was such an interesting period of my life (with her Teega), because I was one of the youngest ones when the tribe was in its formative stage in the early sixties. Mike was one of the oldest of us kids when the tribal council people would meet. So, he was really good at keeping us kids safe and, you know, teasing us. They had army beds at John and Lorraine Winneshiek's house. I loved it when he'd throw me on the bed and I'd have to climb down and then he'd throw me on the bed again.”
Finding her mentor for quill work, her Teega Mike, Melanie shared one instance on quill work advice she received from him. “At the first Neesh la Pow-wow (in Wisconsin Dells) that we ever had, it was all traditional. There wasn't any prize money, just all traditional. The green corn dance at that pow-wow was awesome. When I danced in the pow-wow arena with Mike, we weren't talking about what's going on these days or the weather, or anything. I was picking his brain about quill work. I was learning from him, because his armbands and cuffs and everything was always fully quilled, so beautiful. So, it's our way of really connecting to the natural world, using materials that we had prior to European contact. That's kind of like what I like to do in terms of the old stuff and combining it with the new.”
Using a few of LEAF’s artists to fill the Art Walk and Drive, she stated that Angie and the WilloWood Inn were just awesome. “I mean anything we can do to boost the economic development opportunities for our artists in light of COVID is good. One of the biggest industries that was impacted by COVID in the shutdown were the (art) gigs. People who are doing gigs, side gigs, and that's us as artists. We're creative, and so for Angie to host something like this is just really appreciated. It's been a good, steady flow of people throughout the day that, you know, we can consider doing more of these in the future.”
Contact:
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/littleeaglearts
Web- https://www.artswisconsin.org/little-eagle-arts-foundation/
Email- littleeaglearts@gmail.com
