Fourth-graders have basket-loads of fun at Mabee-Gerrer Museum

In mid-October, Shawnee area fourth-grade students visited the exhibit “Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art” at the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art to learn about low-country coiled baskets as part of their social studies examinations of American regions.
About 650 students visited the museum along with their teachers and parent volunteers. The young visitors were from: Jefferson, Horace Mann, Will Rogers and Sequoyah Elementary Schools (Shawnee); South Rock Creek, North Rock Creek and Pleasant Grove Elementary Schools (Shawnee); Cross Timbers Elementary (Tecumseh); and elementary schools in Macomb, Wanette, Earlsboro and Asher.
“It has been a crazy, busy week and a half at the museum!” said Donna Merkt, MGMoA curator of education.  “However, it has been a great time for all involved. I know all of the students greatly enjoyed their visit — all of them were excited and engaged. They were also very well-behaved. Furthermore, the response from all of the teachers has been very enthusiastic.”
While at the museum, the fourth-grade students listened to a story about the history of the coiled baskets in the “Grass Roots” exhibit and discussed the basket exhibit afterward. The students discovered that the low-country basket tradition began in Africa and was brought to the American South with African slaves who worked on rice plantations in that region.
“Rice plantations specifically imported slaves from Africa’s west coast, the ‘Rice Coast,’ because the people there had been growing rice successfully for some time,” Merkt said. “These slaves brought their knowledge and tools to the southern plantations. One of these tools was the coiled basket, which was used to fan, or winnow, the rice — the process that separated the grain from the husk or chaff.” 
During discussion of the exhibit, students also learned that slaves adapted to their environment, using for their coiled baskets the sweet grass and bulrush that grew in the marshy areas where the rice plantations were located. Finally, they discovered that the creation of coiled baskets is a long-standing tradition because these baskets are still made in the low-country area today, and that this tradition is being threatened by development, as the lands that support sweet grass are being cleared for buildings and roads.   
The fourth graders’ educational experience was enhanced by several interactive activities. They received a demonstration of the coiling process from Merkt, and a few students tried it themselves with rope, string and chenille stems. Other students tried balancing a basket of goods on their heads. Some examined books and maps that explored the concepts of tradition, diminishing resources and slavery; others examined the “touchable” coiled baskets in the display. All of the students learned the weaving process, creating a woven fall-colored placemat to take home.
Rounding out their visit, the fourth graders toured the permanent collection. “Though the students came to learn specifically about the baskets, we wouldn’t dream of having them here without letting them see Tu Tu the mummy or the other amazing artworks and artifacts on display at the Mabee-Gerrer,” Merkt said.
The fourth-graders’ field trips to the museum were made possible in part by funding through Allied Arts, which paid the students’ museum admission fees. Several MGMoA docents and volunteers, as well as MGMoA Preparator Clay Little, helped with the program by giving tours, reading stories and directing the art project.
“This program was successful because of the gracious aid provided by volunteers, docent and staff, as well as the support of school teachers, administrators and parents,” Merkt said. “My thanks to all involved.”