Fran Reed
Encyclopedia
Frances Ann Reed was an American
fiber artist and teacher
based in Alaska
who specialized in a distinctive style of basketry made from dried fish skins
and other natural material
s found in the state.
in 1961. She met her husband, Dick Reed, in 1961 while both were students at the University of Oregon
. The couple had two children, Collin and Jocelyn.
. She began teaching weaving
at an art school in Eugene, Oregon
, after her graduation.
She relocated to Fairbanks, Alaska
, in 1969. Once in Fairbanks, Reed began teaching qiviut
weaving
(musk ox
wool
) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
. She also worked as a lecturer at Alaska Pacific University
, where she taught Alaska Native arts
for fifteen years. Additionally, Reed worked for the Alaska Marine Highway Elderhostel program.
Reed began working with dried fish as an art material in 1986 using dead "river kill" fish collected from the Chena River
. The family moved south to Anchorage shortly afterwards when her husband, Dick Reed, an architect
, was hired for a large project. Southcentral Alaska offered more numerous, diverse fish species than those found near Reed's former home in Fairbanks. This allowed her to incorporate more fish skins in her art and expand her interests.
Through her art, Reed became an expert on the use of fish skins and their uses, especially in the traditional indigenous art of Alaska, such as baskets. She extensively researched Alaskan fish skin and their uses independently. Her unique art and expertise attracted attention from throughout Alaska and the rest of the United States
. This led to a number of awards and honors.
Reed's fish skin baskets and other crafts were featured in the book, Arctic Clothing, which was published by the British Museum Press
. She received the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest
Artists at Giverny
fellow
ship in 1996, which allowed her to study at the home of Claude Monet
in France
for three months. She also received the Rasmuson Foundation and Western States Arts Federation
fellowships during her career. In 1989, Reed was adopted into the Tsimshian
Killer Whale clan
, which is also known as the Gispwudwada
.
In 1997, Reed was commissioned by the Governor of Alaska to create the prizes given to the recipients of the Alaska Governor's Arts Awards.
Reed was awarded the Anchorage Mayor's Award for Outstanding Individual Artist by Mayor Mark Begich
in 2008. Despite being ill with cancer, Reed spent four days in 2008 at the Smithsonian Institution
in Washington D.C. Reed aided Smithsonian staff and curators to restore and identify animal skins in the museum's Native Alaskan collection.
Reed was a member of The Friends of Fiber Arts International and Northwest Designer Craftsmen.
. She is survived by her husband and children.
Reed's final scholarly paper, entitled Embellishment of the Arctic Gut Parka, was presented posthumously at the 11th Biennial Textile Society of America Symposium in Honolulu, Hawaii
, by Audrey Armstrong. Armstrong, an Athabascan basket maker and friend of Reed, had been taught many techniques and skills by Reed.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fiber artist and teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
based in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
who specialized in a distinctive style of basketry made from dried fish skins
Skinning
Skinning, a gerund from the verb to skin, commonly refers to the act of skin removal.The process is usually done with animals, mainly as preparation of the meat beneath and/or use for the fur...
and other natural material
Natural material
A natural material is any product or physical matter that comes from plants, animals, or the ground. Minerals and the metals that can be extracted from them are also considered to belong into this category.* Biotic materials...
s found in the state.
Early life
Reed was born Frances Williams in La Jolla, California, on June 12, 1943 to parents Charles and Mary Alice Williams. Reed, a competitive swimmer, graduated from La Jolla High SchoolLa Jolla High School
La Jolla, CA 92037 Enrollment 1,650 Colors Black & Red██ Mascot Viking Rival Schools The Bishop's School, Cathedral Catholic High School, Mission Bay High School, University City High School Homepage...
in 1961. She met her husband, Dick Reed, in 1961 while both were students at the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
. The couple had two children, Collin and Jocelyn.
Career
Reed graduated from University of Oregon with a bachelor's of science degree in art educationArt education
Art education is the area of learning that is based upon the visual, tangible arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practical fields such as commercial graphics and home furnishings...
. She began teaching weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
at an art school in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, after her graduation.
She relocated to Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
, in 1969. Once in Fairbanks, Reed began teaching qiviut
Qiviut
Qiviut is an Inuit word commonly used to indicate the wool of the muskox. The word was originally used to refer to the down feathers of birds as well as the inner wool of the muskox. It is valued for its use as a fiber as, unlike sheep's wool, it does not shrink in water at any temperature...
weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
(musk ox
Musk Ox
The muskox is an Arctic mammal of the family Bovidae, noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males, from which its name derives. This musky odor is used to attract females during mating season...
wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
University of Alaska Fairbanks
The University of Alaska Fairbanks, located in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska System, and is abbreviated as Alaska or UAF....
. She also worked as a lecturer at Alaska Pacific University
Alaska Pacific University
Alaska Pacific University is a small liberal arts college located in Anchorage, Alaska, that emphasizes experiential and active learning...
, where she taught Alaska Native arts
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.-History:In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded...
for fifteen years. Additionally, Reed worked for the Alaska Marine Highway Elderhostel program.
Reed began working with dried fish as an art material in 1986 using dead "river kill" fish collected from the Chena River
Chena River
The Chena River is a 100-mile-long river in the Interior region of the U.S. state of Alaska. It flows generally west from the White Mountains to the Tanana River near the city of Fairbanks, which is built on both sides of the river...
. The family moved south to Anchorage shortly afterwards when her husband, Dick Reed, an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, was hired for a large project. Southcentral Alaska offered more numerous, diverse fish species than those found near Reed's former home in Fairbanks. This allowed her to incorporate more fish skins in her art and expand her interests.
Through her art, Reed became an expert on the use of fish skins and their uses, especially in the traditional indigenous art of Alaska, such as baskets. She extensively researched Alaskan fish skin and their uses independently. Her unique art and expertise attracted attention from throughout Alaska and the rest of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. This led to a number of awards and honors.
Reed's fish skin baskets and other crafts were featured in the book, Arctic Clothing, which was published by the British Museum Press
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. She received the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
Artists at Giverny
Giverny
Giverny is a commune in the Eure department in north-western France. It is best known as the location of Claude Monet's garden and home.-Location:Giverny sits on the "right bank" of the River Seine where the river Epte meets the Seine...
fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
ship in 1996, which allowed her to study at the home of Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
for three months. She also received the Rasmuson Foundation and Western States Arts Federation
Western States Arts Federation
The Western States Arts Federation , headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is one of six not-for-profit regional arts organizations funded by the National Endowment for the Arts . Founded in 1974, WESTAF fulfills its mission to strengthen the financial, organizational and policy infrastructure of the...
fellowships during her career. In 1989, Reed was adopted into the Tsimshian
Tsimshian
The Tsimshian are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Tsimshian translates to Inside the Skeena River. Their communities are in British Columbia and Alaska, around Terrace and Prince Rupert and the southernmost corner of Alaska on Annette Island. There are approximately 10,000...
Killer Whale clan
Gispwudwada
The Gispwudwada is the name for the Killerwhale "clan" in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska. It is considered analogous or identical to the Gisgahaast clan in British Columbia's Gitksan nation and the Gisk'ahaast/Gisk'aast Tribe of the Nisga'a...
, which is also known as the Gispwudwada
Gispwudwada
The Gispwudwada is the name for the Killerwhale "clan" in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska. It is considered analogous or identical to the Gisgahaast clan in British Columbia's Gitksan nation and the Gisk'ahaast/Gisk'aast Tribe of the Nisga'a...
.
In 1997, Reed was commissioned by the Governor of Alaska to create the prizes given to the recipients of the Alaska Governor's Arts Awards.
Reed was awarded the Anchorage Mayor's Award for Outstanding Individual Artist by Mayor Mark Begich
Mark Begich
Mark Peter Begich is the junior United States Senator from Alaska and a member of the Democratic Party. A former mayor of Anchorage, he served on the Anchorage Assembly for almost ten years prior to being elected mayor in 2003...
in 2008. Despite being ill with cancer, Reed spent four days in 2008 at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in Washington D.C. Reed aided Smithsonian staff and curators to restore and identify animal skins in the museum's Native Alaskan collection.
Reed was a member of The Friends of Fiber Arts International and Northwest Designer Craftsmen.
Death
Fran Reed died of cancer on September 11, 2008, at the age of 65, in Anchorage, AlaskaAnchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
. She is survived by her husband and children.
Reed's final scholarly paper, entitled Embellishment of the Arctic Gut Parka, was presented posthumously at the 11th Biennial Textile Society of America Symposium in Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
, by Audrey Armstrong. Armstrong, an Athabascan basket maker and friend of Reed, had been taught many techniques and skills by Reed.