Sweetgrass artist Mary Jackson wins fellowship
Mary Jackson, a descendent of the Gullah community of coastal South Carolina, is a sweetgrass basketweaver from Johns Island whose work is displayed widely in the nation's museums, not least the Smithsonian Institution's American Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Known for translating utilitarian objects into finely detailed, sculptural forms, she has been showered with honors, among them a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Museum for Women in the Arts (1993) and a MacArthur Fellowship (2008).
On Thursday, Jackson received one of her most prestigious awards to date as one of the latest class of artists honored by the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowships, the nation's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
Born in 1945 in Mount Pleasant, Jackson learned the art of making baskets from her mother and grandmother beginning at age 4.
Still, Jackson did not take up basketmaking as an adult until 1973, when she started fashioning baskets full time and she began teaching her daughter the art form.
Today, basketmaking remains a family pursuit, with her husband and son gathering the sweetgrass from local marshes while her daughter provides administrative support.
As a founding member of the Mount Pleasant Sweetgrass Basket Makers' Association, Jackson also works to protect the threatened wetland habitats of sweetgrass. Her efforts were noted in 2008 when she was awarded the Environmental Stewardship Award of Achievement given by the South Carolina Aquarium.
Other recipients of this year's fellowships are Yacub Addy Ghanaian, a master drummer from Troy, N.Y.; Jim Chancellor, a fiddler from Rockwall, Texas; Gladys Kukana Grace Lauhala, a palm leaf weaver from Honolulu; Delano Floyd McCoury, a bluegrass guitarist and singer from Nashville; Kamala Lakshmi Narayanan Bharatanatyam, an Indian dancer from Mastic, N.Y.; Mike Rafferty, an Irish flute player from Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.; and Ezequiel Torres, an Afro-Cuban drummer and drum builder from Miami.
The Heritage Fellowship includes a one-time award of $25,000.
The fellows will convene in September in Washington, D.C., for a series of events that includes an awards presentation and banquet at the Library of Congress and a concert.
"The National Heritage Fellowships are a wonderful opportunity for us to celebrate and draw attention to the many cultural traditions and artistic genres that are alive and thriving in the United States," said NEA director of Folk and Traditional Arts Barry Bergey in a press statement.
"This year's awardees have dedicated many hours of their lives to not only perfecting their art forms, but also ensuring they will endure for generations to come."
Reach Bill Thompson at bthompson@postandcourier.com or 937-5707.
