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contact name: Dennis Chilcote
phone: 612 729 0878
email: chilc001@tc.umn.edu

location address:
2853 41st Avenue South
Minneapolis MN 55406-1811

open to public: yes
hours: by appointment only, please call or email me

Pseudonym: flint creek baskets

Related Organizations:
MN Guild of Woodworkers
MN Guild of Woodturners
MN Guild of Metalsmiths
North House Folk School

I grew up in northern Minnesota, and when not in school, spent my time in my father's workshop or roaming the woods, learning the art of nature. These wilderness forays bred a life-long fascination with nature crafts. An engineer by profession, I express my artistic nature by combining fine woodworking and traditional basketry. The primary weaving materials in my work, birch bark and black ash splint, are gathered from the forests of northern Minnesota. I design and make the molds that serve as weaving forms for many of my baskets. As a maker of baskets and bark containers, the continuity I experience from gathering to finishing gives me a connection to my work that few modern basket makers are privileged to experience. As a woodworker, my use of wood, bark and root gives me a unique connection to the tree. My art is a personal celebration of the beauty that greets me every time I step into wilderness.

Best Handwork, Northern Woods Exhibition, Edina, MN 2009
Blue Ribbon, MN State Fair, 2007
Best Handwork, Northern Woods Exhibition, Edina, MN, 2004
Festival of American Basketry Invitation, Amana Colonies, IA, 2004
Blue Ribbon, MN State Fair, 2003
Best Handwork, Northern Woods Exhibition, Edina, MN, 2003
Festival of American Basketry Invitation, Amana Colonies, 2003
Two blue ribbons, MN State Fair, 2002
Best of Show, Grand Marais Art Fair, 2002
Best of Show, Northern Woods Exhibition, Edina, MN, 2001
Best of Show, Grand Marais Art Festival, 2001
Merit Award, Best in Class, Duluth Park Point Art Festival, 2001
Two Blue Ribbons, MN State Fair, 2001
Two Blue Ribbons, MN State Fair, 2000

Northern Woods Exhibition, Edina, MN 2009
Ridgewater College, Willmar, MN March 2009
Laura Ingalls Wilder Days, Pepin, WI, 2008
Early MN Trades, Historic Murphy's Landing, Shakopee, MN, 2008
The Spoon Gathering, Milan Village Art School, 2008
Laura Ingalls Wilder Days, Pepin, WI, 2007
Birch, the Giving Tree Exhibit, several locations
All from One Tree Exhibit, North House Folk School, 2007
Art Opener Tour, Stillwater, MN 2004
Goods from the Woods, Grand Rapids, MN, 2003-2004
Blueberry Arts Festival, Ely, MN 2000-2003
Duluth Park Point Art Festival, Duluth, MN 2001-2002
Grand Marais Art Festival, 2001-2004
Northern Woods Exhibition, 2001-2003

MN Historical Society
several private collections

Country of Citizenship:
United States

Birth Place:
Minnesota

Gender:
Male

Active Place:
Minneapolis

Minnesota County:
Hennepin

Basket Maker