Lisa Telford facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lisa Telford
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Lisa Telford was born in Ketchikan, Alaska. She is a talented Git'ans Git'anee Haida weaver. Lisa creates modern clothes, shoes, and other items. She uses special weaving methods from the Northwest Coast. Her art helps people think about Native identity, common ideas about Native people, and fashion.
Lisa's beautiful baskets are displayed in many museums. You can see them at The Oregon Historical Society, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Her work is also at the Heard Museum, the Portland Art Museum, and the Burke Museum.
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Learning to Weave
Lisa Telford comes from a family of weavers. Her grandmother, mother, aunt, and cousins all wove. Even though she grew up in Indiana, she stayed connected to her Haida culture. She visited Alaska for traditional gatherings and took part in traditional dances.
For 16 years, Lisa worked as a carpenter. In 1996, she started a job helping women and men find work in trades.
When she was 35, Lisa began learning to weave traditional Haida baskets. Her aunt, Delores Churchill, taught her. Her cousin, Holly Churchill, taught her how to weave traditional cedar clothing.
How Lisa Creates Her Art
For a long time, Lisa wove items that had a clear purpose. But in 2004, she started making modern cedar clothing, shoes, cowboy boots, and neckties.
Lisa explains how she works:
I gather and prepare my own materials. I use red and yellow cedar bark and spruce root. Getting cedar bark means traveling hundreds of miles from home. It also takes many hours to prepare. The materials are prepared differently for each final product. The bark is usually stored for one year. Then, more work is needed before I can start weaving.
After preparing the materials, it can take Lisa anywhere from five to 200 hours to make a basket.
When she was a young weaver, she once counted every stitch on one of her grandmother's old baskets. At first, she wanted her baskets to be perfect. But then she let go of that idea and found real joy in her work. Lisa says making baskets is like therapy. It helps her relax from life's stresses. She also calls basketry her "thread to sanity."
Working with Other Artists
In 2011, Lisa Telford worked with glass artist Preston Singletary. They created an exhibit of women's shapes made from glass.
Also in 2011, Lisa received a special grant. This allowed her to work with artist Kelly Church. Lisa taught Kelly how to find the right cedar tree for harvesting bark. She also showed her how to split and prepare the bark for storage.
Art Shows and Recognition
Lisa's work has been shown in important art exhibits. One major show was "Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists." This exhibit traveled from June 2019 to September 2020. It was organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Lisa has also received many honors and awards for her weaving:
- In 1998, she gave demonstrations at the Suquamish Museum and the Seattle Art Museum.
- She was an instructor at the Sealaska Heritage Foundation and the Kootznoowoo Cultural Foundation in 1998.
- In 1999, she was an artist in residence at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis.
- She was also an artist in residence at the National Museum of the American Indian/Smithsonian Institution in 1999.
- In 2006, she was a visiting researcher at the Burke Museum's Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Coast Art.
- In 2011, she received an Artistic Innovation grant from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.
- Also in 2011, her work was chosen for the cover of the catalog for "Time Warp: Contemporary Textiles of the Northwest Coast." This show was at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art.
- In 2012, she won first place at the 53rd annual Indian Fair & Market at the Heard Museum.
