Sweetgrass Basket Weaving Workshop

Thanks to an inspiring trip to Charleston, SC, Circle’s team found just the right sweetgrass basket weavers to share the tradition with us here in the Hudson Valley.

Learn the basics of weaving these renowned baskets with three generations of Gullah Geechee women from South Carolina who have kept this family tradition alive from Senegal and Sierra Leon, Africa.

Mother Martha Cayetano-Howard, daughter Andrea Cayetano-Jefferson, and granddaughter Chelsea Cayetano are flying in just for to lead this three-hour workshop during SANKOFA, A Day Of Traditional Craft presented by Circle Creative Collective and My Kingston Kids in honor of Black History Month Kingston.

Martha Graddick Cayetano is a fifth-generation basketweaver. She was taught to weave by her mother Rosa Barnwell Graddick, who was taught by her mother Martha Barnwell. Martha Cayetano grew up weaving sweetgrass baskets with her siblings and sold them along Highway 17 N. in Mount Pleasant South Carolina. In the early 1980s, Martha got a booth in the Charleston City Market where you can still find her weaving most days along with her daughter, Andrea Cayetano Jefferson. Sweetgrass basket weaving is one of the oldest African art forms in the United States. The baskets are made from plants harvested by their family including sweetgrass, bulrush, long needle pine, and are woven together with strips of palmetto. The family’s work is on display in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Martha is now hand cutting and filing the traditional spoon handles for each participant to use for their small basket or hot plate. We are so honored to have her join us here in the Hudson Valley to teach us at Black History Month’s Sankofa event.

There is only room for 20 people so reserve your spot early.

Workshop