Fellow: Alice Ogden, Traditional Basketmaker, Salisbury

Alice Ogden has been a basketmaker for over 35 years and is nationally recognized for her expertise in creating baskets from locally grown and harvested Black Ash trees. Ogden uses the traditional methods of pounding and stripping off layers of growth rings from the ash logs, the splints are then prepared into finer weavers and rims and handles are carved out of white oak logs. Her husband, Brad Weyant, who is a professional logger, keeps her supplied with the natural materials that she needs for her business. She has been a juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen since 1980 and demonstrates at their annual fair where she has won the Best in Traditional Design Award. She has recently been selected to make the League’s 2013 annual ornament.In 1993, she displayed a Christmas ornament made from split ash on the White House Christmas tree as part of the Year of the American Crafts. In 1995, she received a regional artist fellowship from the New England Foundation for the Arts.

Ogden has been featured on the Boston-based television show Evening Magazine and has appeared on WMUR's New Hampshire Chronicle. Her work has also appeared in The Boston Globe, New Hampshire Profiles, and the Directory of Traditional Crafts in Early American Life magazine. Her work is featured in the book Baskets, A Book for Makers and Collectors. She has been a long-time member of the State Arts Council’s Artist Roster and Traditional Arts & Folklife Listing. Each year she teaches several artist residencies in schools and communities throughout the state.

Last updated: July 17, 2012