“Then to Now” by Martha Bird
ARTIST STATEMENT:
driftwood, wood, copper wire
Martha Bird is a Minneapolis-based multidisciplinary artist who specializes in traditional and sculptural basketry. Nationally and internationally known basketmakers have been her teachers, as this art medium is passed down specifically from artisan to artisan. Basketry, as a medium, has depth as it reaches back to the beginning of time and breadth as it stretches across all continents, while remaining a practice of only simple tools and the creator’s hands and the materials.
Martha has exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions locally and nationally including Massachusetts, Washington, and New Jersey, and at locations such as the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Hennepin County Library, Textile Center, Duluth Art Institute, Society of Arts and Crafts, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. She has also toured her sculptural basketry with the National Basketry Organization. Martha is committed to community and has been involved in the arts as a student, volunteer, curator, writer, arts organizer, teaching artist and arts advocate.
Martha recently received an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board grant to support professional development and create new work. You can also learn more about her here in this Avivo video.
PROVIDED BY:
Avivo Artworks
Since 2004, Avivo ArtWorks, formerly Spectrum ArtWorks, has been working to support professional artists living with mental illness. Located at the Lighthouse, a Community Support Program in Minneapolis, the program meets its mission through a community-focused and recovery-based approach. Its multi-faceted art studio and programming assists artists at reaching and maintaining their artist-related goals such as making new art, connecting with other artists, and accessing exhibition and grant opportunities.
In addition to this, each year the program organizes a new exhibition that aims to meet its mission to challenge stigma and raise mental health awareness. In 2015, the program partnered with the Minneapolis Institute of Art to bring “In Conversation,” a residency and exhibition that featured 17 artists from the program. Each participant created a new piece of art that was in conversation with an object or artwork in the museum’s collection. In 2017, Avivo ArtWorks facilitated “The Big Picture,” a group exhibition that presented artwork that explored wellness in recovery through art. “To Really See,” opening August 2017 at the Hennepin County Library – Central Minneapolis, is Avivo ArtWorks first every traveling group exhibition. The show explores the medication-taking experience and will feature artwork from artists who use Avivo ArtWorks services and artists from across the state of Minnesota.