NANTUCKET, MA – The Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) will host the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum (NLBM) annual summer fundraiser, Baskets & Bubbly with a Garden Party, as well as an online auction this July. Karen Butler and Jackie Kupper chair this year’s fundraiser for their second year.
The online auction will run from Sunday, July 17 to Monday, July 25 at 4pm and will include over 25 lightship baskets and basket-related items, making it a one-of-a-kind event. Offering buyers the opportunity to bid on exquisitely handcrafted items, including a Janet Carreau intricately woven mini pendant, jewelry designed and made by Michael Kane, and an amazing petite basket woven and embellished by Nap Plank, plus many more unique pieces.
The Baskets & Bubbly Garden Party will be a special celebration to honor this iconic Nantucket craft, held in the garden of the NHA’s Historic Property, Hadwen House, at 96 Main Street, from 4–6 pm on Sunday, July 24. Tickets are now on sale here.
“Every Nantucket lightship basket, unique unto itself, carries with it the heart and soul of the person who made it, reflecting their creativity and ingenuity. It is with great pleasure and joy that we are inspired to do our small part in helping this historic basket craft, which originated on Nantucket Island, continue to be vibrantly alive and relevant to this very day,” says Karen Butler and Jackie Kupper.”
As an affiliate of the NHA, the NLBM retains all funds donated, which can be used to carry out its mission. The NLBM’s ongoing emphasis is teaching the craft and sharing the history of making Nantucket lightship baskets. A special exhibition Weaving Nantucket’s Past into Its Future: The Craft Continues, will reopen at the Hadwen House on Memorial Day weekend. The NHA’s Decorative Arts program will continue to offer an array of basket-themed workshops for youth and adults; check out our calendar of workshops here.
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