look bio
loeber + look
necklaces 1 2
bracelets
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ken loeber
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dona look
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bio
Sewing was learned as a child. Spinning and weaving became a passion while teaching in Australia. Dona has continued sewing and weaving using primarily white birch bark since 1980. Because the quality of the bark is essential to her work, she searches for large, healthy trees that are soon to be logged. This process of gathering and preparing materials guides her in understanding the appropriate use of bark from each tree. Each basket is part of a continuous learning process using bark as fiber and fabric. Since she begins her work in the forest, the resulting pieces reflect her respect for natural materials and her concern for the health and diversity of our northern woodlands. Dona has also collaborated with Ken Loeber designing and making jewelry for over 25 years.
EDUCATION:
University of Wisconsin: Oshkosh: B.A. (art education),1970.
DOCUMENTARY FILM:
CRAFT IN AMERICA, PBS Series airing May 2007
Ken Loeber and Dona Look featured in Part 3, Community
TOURING EXHBITION: Opening April 2007
BOOK: October 2007
AWARDS:
Best of Show, American Craft Expo, Evanston, IL. 2003.
National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Arts Fellowship, 1988.
National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Midwest Fellowship, 1987.
American Craft Museum Design Award, 1985.
Purchase Award, Philadelphia Craft Show, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1984.
Best of Show, Smithsonian Craft Show, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, DC. 1984.
COLLECTIONS:
Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI.
Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Washington, DC.
The White House Collection, Washington, DC.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA.
American Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.
Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte, NC.
MCI Telecommunications Corporation, Washington, DC.
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR.
Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
500 Baskets A Celebration of the Basketmaker‘s Art, Lark Books, 2006,
pg 37, 115, 124.
Crafting a Legacy: Contemporary American Crafts in the Philadelphia
Museum of Art, Suzanne Ramljak, PMA, 2002. Pg 174.
Living with Form: the Horn Collection of Contemporary Crafts,
Bradley Publ. + the Arkansas Art Center. 2000. pg 96-97.
The Art of Basketry, Kari Lonning, Sterling Publishing Co., NY. 2000.
pg. 91-92.
Baskets, Billie Ruth Sudduth, Hand Books Press, Madison, WI. 1999. pages18, 94, 140.
NO: Nouvel Objet, Design House, Seoul, Korea, 1997. pages 124-127.
American Craft, “Dona Look”, April/May 1997, pages 40-43.
The White House Collection of American Crafts, Michael Monroe, Abrams,
NY. 1995
FIBERARTS DESIGN BOOK FIVE, edited by Nancy Orbin & Ann Batchelder,
Lark Books 1995, page 118.
International CRAFTS, edited by Martina Margetts, Thames &
Hudson Ltd., London, 1991.
FIBERARTS DESIGN BOOK FOUR, edited by Nancy Orbin, Lark Books, 1991.
The Tactile Vessel, Jack Lenor Larsen, Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA. 1989.
Interlacing: the Elemental Fabric, Jack Lenor Larsen, Kodansha Press,
Japan, 1987.
The Basketmakers Art: Contemporary Baskets and Their Makers,
Lark Books, 1986.
American Craft, “Dona Look”, vol.45, no.1, Feb./March 1985, page 37.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND SHOWS:
“One of a Kind: The Studio Craft Movement”, The Metropolitan
Museum of Art. NYC, NY. 2007.
"New Works 2007", Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI. 2007.
"Material Difference: Soft Sculpture and Wall Works", Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL. 2006.
“High Fiber”, Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American
Art Museum. Washington, DC. 2005.
“Baskets Now 2003”, Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY. 2003.
“Naturally, Baskets”, Connell Gallery, Atlanta, GA. 2001.
Solo Show: Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters,
Madison, WI. 2000.
“Living with Form: the Horn Collection of Contemporary Crafts”,
Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR. 2000.
“Nature RE-BOUND”, Palo Alto Art Center, CA.2000.
“Threads: Contemporary American Basketry”, Barbican Centre,
London, England. 1998.
“Celebrating American Craft”, The Danish Museum of
Decorative Art, Copenhagen, Denmark. 1997.
“New Baskets: Expanding the Concept”, curator: Jane Sauer,
Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO. 1997.
Solo Show: Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, IL. 1991, 1996.
“The White House Collection of American Crafts”, National Museum
of Art, Washington, DC. 1995.
“The Space Within: Contemporary Basket in the Midwest“, Waterloo Museum
of Art, IA. 1993.
“Craft Today: USA”, American Craft Museum exhibition touring Europe.
1989-1992.
“Tapestry to Vessel”, Palo Alto Cultural Center, Palo Alto, CA. 1990.
“Tactile Vessel”, American Craft Museum, New York, NY. 1989.
“Artful Objects: Recent American Craft”, Fort Wayne Museum of Art,
Fort Wayne, IN. 1989.
“ The New American Basket”, Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA. 1988.
“American Baskets: the Eighties”, Cultural Center, Chicago, IL.1988.
“Wisconsin Craft Masters”, C.A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts,
Racine, WI. 1988.
“Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical”, American Craft Museum,
New York, NY. 1986-1988.
“Interlacing”, American Craft Museum, New York, NY. 1987.
National Craft Invitational, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR. 1987.
