Sweetgrass Creations (Intergenerational / July 26-31)

Explore the traditional art of Carolina Gullah basketry with a fifth-generation weaver. Learn the coiling technique for creating a handwoven basket from sweetgrass, bullrushes, and pine needles lashed with palmetto palm strips. Benefit from the instructor’s generational wisdom about how to use these naturally grown materials to form a beautiful basket using patience and love. Join us for this immersive week of Gullah basketry history and heritage. All levels welcome. $

PLEASE NOTE: This class is for 12-17 year olds to attend with a parent, grandparent, or guardian -- 1 youth per 1 adult. To register, you MUST purchase adult and youth spots as a pair, one youth per one adult: $670 (adult), $330 (youth), $1,000 (combined).

Lynette Youson is originally from the Seven Mile community in Mount Pleasant, SC. She is a fifth-generation basket maker who learned her craft as a child over 50 years ago from her great-grandmother, Maggie Jefferson Williams. Although she now calls Moncks Corner home, Lynette travels back to her roots daily to weave and display her wares in the Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Pavilion at Memorial Waterfront Park. The former co-chair of the Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Festival Association, she is a crusader for the fading art form and is passionate about preserving its cultural and historical importance in the Lowcountry. She also has an extra-large Rice Fanner Basket in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.