Artist Nancie Cooney recently led a basket-making workshop for local seventh and eighth graders through the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Honors Program.
Cooney, who presented a basket-making workshop last school year, returned to Herkimer BOCES to teach students the steps and process for making a flat reed pocket basket.
“Mrs. Cooney is a fabulous instructor. She prepared all the reeds before the workshop and delivered instructions in small segments,” Herkimer BOCES Honors Program Coordinator Deborah Schoff said. “Her patience, individual help and attention to detail made this workshop a success.”
Students from Central Valley, Dolgeville, Herkimer, Little Falls and Poland attended the workshop on Wednesday, March 4, at the Herkimer BOCES Gateway Center.
Students worked with both flat and round reeds and developed new vocabulary as they worked through the steps to produce the pocket basket. They were also introduced to the awl, a tool used to move and tighten the reeds.
“Students drew on their skills of patience and perseverance as they worked through the slow process of designing a basket,” Schoff said. “Their final products were great.”
