Carver Davy Arch leads Qualla Arts & Crafts community outreach program.
Since 1946, the non-profit Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual, Inc. has provided a place for Cherokee artists and craftspeople to market their creations. It was the first co-op ever managed on a reservation. Located today in a gallery in the heart of Cherokee, Qualla Arts & Crafts features beadwork, basketry, woodcarving, finger weaving, pottery, jewelry, masks, dolls and other works created by the co-op’s 300 members.
In 2002, Qualla Arts & Craft’s board and staff determined that a series of workshops taught by members would be a worthwhile endeavor. As part of the co-ops’s continuing efforts to keep its standards at the highest levels, they wanted the workshops to serve as an opportunity to help members share their knowledge and their pride in their workmanship with each other. In addition, they wanted the sessions to help members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) who were interested in learning the traditions of their tribe to master new skills.
Cherokee Preservation Foundation grants have enabled Qualla Arts & Crafts to conduct the workshops. EBCI members have learned about weaving and rimming baskets, woodcarving (which included making masks and basket handles), and Lifeways, a class that focuses on how things of the present relate to the Cherokees’ past. Other funding has been provided by in-kind assistance from staff and volunteers, the co-op’s operating budget and fundraising events.
“Community involvement is the most important result of the workshops,” said Vicki Ledford, the general manager of Qualla Arts & Crafts. “People love the opportunity to spend time with each other and to better understand what their parents went through at an earlier time. For instance, people share stories about what their mothers used to do when they wove baskets, and even seasoned artists learn some new things by sharing.
“We have learned that freezing bloodroot in freezer containers is a good way to preserve bloodroot for later use,” Ledford said. “Before, basket weavers dug bloodroot as they needed it or dug extra and dried it for use in the winter. But at the workshop, we learned how freezing bloodroot keeps it fresh and more colorful.”
Betty Maney, who taught several of
the basket workshops, loves seeing
teenagers at the evening sessions. “"It
does my heart good to see young people
and adults coming together and laughing
like family",” Maney said. “"The
youngsters turn out some nice pieces,
too".”
Mario Esquivel, Betty's son, made
a basket for the first time at one
of the workshops. He has always admired
her work, but when he split white oak
for his mother’s classes, he
was inspired to try his hand at basket
weaving himself. “Now that
I know how to find white oak, work
it up into splits and gather dyes,
I decided I was ready to learn how
to make a basket,” he said.
Other instructors include Davy Arch (woodcarving, basket handles, mask making and Lifeways) and Ramona Lossie and her sister Lucille Lossie (single and double weave baskets).
The workshops strengthen Qualla Arts & Crafts as an organization. “Our members get to spend time with members of the community and serve as mentors,” Ledford said, “And our staff gets to learn more about the craft workers and what their work involves — that helps us sell their work more effectively.”
The Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual
is located on Highway 441 at the intersection
with Drama road, where the entrance
of the theatre for the production of
Unto These Hills is
located. The co-op's telephone
number is 828/497-3103.
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