Artwork copyright Dudley C. Carter. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Dudley C. Carter. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017 (detail).

Artwork copyright Dudley C. Carter. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Dudley C. Carter. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Indian Woman Weaving Basket, 1976

Dudley C. Carter
Canadian (born 1891, died 1992)

Location: Yakima Valley College, Yakima

About the Artwork

Indian Woman Weaving Basket is an ax-hewn wood sculpture by non-Native artist Dudley Carter. He carved the sculpture from a section of a giant cedar tree with a ten-foot trunk diameter, that had died at least 30 years earlier (before 1946) in the Snohomish River Valley of Western Washington. The sculpture shows a woman preparing cedar bark for weaving. Carter spent his childhood learning traditional skills from Indigenous communities on the Northwest Coast of British Columbia, Canada. He states, "They taught me the woods experience. It was very important to us, because we made everything for ourselves. We had to, there was nothing else."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Yakima Valley College.

About the Artist

Dudley Carter (1891-1992) was a non-Native woodcarver based in the Pacific Northwest. Born in British Columbia, Canada, Carter's early childhood was spent living among the Kwakiutl and Tlingit First Nations peoples, which greatly influenced his art. He moved to Washington State in 1928 and worked as a forest engineer. Carter taught sculpture at the University of Washington in Seattle from 1944 to 1945. He kept a studio called "Haida House Studio" which was inspired by a traditional Haida dwelling. At the age of 96, Carter became the first artist-in-residence for the King County Parks and Recreation Department.