Penobscot basket maker Theresa Secord wins national award
Jan. 28—Penobscot basket maker Theresa Secord, who has dedicated her career to preserving the traditional art of weaving, has won a $100,000 award from the Ruth Foundation for the Arts.
"I'm kind of beyond honored and humbled," Secord said in an interview Tuesday. "It's a really big one. It's just really good to be recognized for four decades of my art. I really believe that traditional basketry here in the tribes is transcendental in these times. We've seen Wabanaki artists' lives transformed by their basketry practice, and I definitely feel that has been the case for me."
Secord, who lives in Farmington, was so surprised by the award that she didn't believe the news at first.
"I thought the email was spam," she said with a laugh. "I almost deleted it."
The Ruth Foundation for the Arts, based in Wisconsin, launched in 2022 and has granted more than $35 million to date. This particular prize goes to contemporary artists working across North America, and nominations come from curators.
"The nomination process for the awards is not only inspiring, but motivating — it renews our faith in the possibilities of this field," program director Kim Nguyen said in a news release. "The curators spoke about artists that are supporting entire ecosystems while radiating joy and profound reflection. They describe being captivated by the spectacular beauty of an artist's work, that they wanted to acknowledge artists who have not only lived through history but are helping to shape it."
Michelle Millar Fisher, a curator of contemporary decorative arts at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, nominated Secord.
"Theresa Secord and her work are worthy of support not just because of the material beauty she creates, but because to do so supports an entire ecosystem of Indigenous basketmaking that she has cultivated," Millar Fisher said in the release. "She is a self-deprecating cheerleader for Indigenous craft, a pioneer of community efforts to preserve and innovate Wabanaki traditions, and a significant artist in her own right."
For years, Wabanaki basketry did not receive the respect it deserved in fine art circles. Secord founded the Maine Indian Basket Makers Alliance in 1993 and was its executive director for 21 years. The nonprofit is dedicated to saving the endangered art of ash and sweet grass basketry in the Wabanaki tribes. That advocacy has contributed in recent years to better prices and overdue recognition in markets, museums and galleries.
Secord has won a number of awards for her artistry and community work, including Best of Basketry in the Santa Fe Indian Market, a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and an honorary doctorate from Colby College in Maine. Secord was also the first U.S. citizen to receive the Prize for Creativity in Rural Life, awarded by the Women's World Summit Foundation at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. She serves on the boards at the Portland Museum of Art and the Colby College Museum of Art.
Secord has also supported the next generation of basket makers, such as Jeremy Frey, whose solo show at the Portland Museum of Art last year was the first of its kind for a Wabanaki artist, and Sarah Sockbeson, who curated a show with Secord at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland last year. Her son, Caleb Hoffman, won Best in Show at the Santa Fe Indian Market last year.
Secord said this prize will allow her to grow her own practice and also to keep teaching this art to others.
"It really is beyond my wildest imagination," Secord said. "Even until 10 years ago, our basketry didn't exist in these places of honor, in these top museums. We worked really hard as an alliance to bring our baskets to the forefront. I think a lot of this recognition is due to the hard work of the present, but also the former mentors in the Maine Indian Basket Makers Alliance, those elderly basketmakers who really didn't see awards and recognition. They carried on this cultural art form in spite of so much hardship and so many obstacles, and now, we're really, really beneficiaries."
The foundation announced this year's five winners Tuesday in a news release. Secord was the first and only from Maine.
"Through the many challenges and ongoing complexities of sustaining a creative practice, there are countless artists who endure, who work with exceptional generosity, who are teachers and mentors for each other and for the next generation, who see art as a vehicle for social transformation," Nguyen said. "The awarded artists embody these values deeply, for not only their investment in their practices but their commitment to others — and we continue to learn from them each day."
The other recipients of this year's Ruth Awards are Jennifer Harge of Michigan, Suzanne Jackson of Georgia, Carlos Motta of New York and Juan Sánchez of New York.
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