Handmade Baskets Highlight September At Ocean City Arts Center

OCEAN CITY, NJ — As harvest time nears, enjoy the perfect seasonal exhibit at the Ocean City Arts Center - baskets.

September's exhibit features the handcrafted baskets of noted South Jersey folk artist Mary May. The show opens Sept. 2 and runs through Sept. 28.

A "Meet the Artists" reception will be held on Friday, Sept. 8 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Just announced in July, May is one of ten Premier Award Winners of New Jersey State Council on the Arts Heritage Fellowship. In its effort to honor and preserve the State’s highly diverse cultural heritage, the Council awards New Jersey Heritage Fellowships to master folk and traditional artists. The fellowships recognize artistic excellence, lifetime achievement, and contributions to our state’s traditional arts heritage. The awards are one-time, $20,000 awards to individual practicing New Jersey folk and traditional artists to help them pursue their artistic goals.

May is a master basket maker and artisan with a passion for researching, developing, and teaching the history of the unique South Jersey traditional working basket industry.

She has been recognized for her outstanding contribution as a master folk and traditional artist and has received many other awards and honors, including the Ocean County Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts. She has been featured in television segments for the New Jersey State of the Arts program, and as the Master Basketmaker through the New Jersey State of the Arts Council.

May currently serves as the Vice President of the Penn-Jersey Basketry Guild and has recently been awarded a New Jersey Heritage Foundation Fellowship, for her “artistic excellence, lifetime achievement, and contribution to our state’s traditional arts heritage.”

Each of her baskets are made one at a time and much care and precision are used while she construct each basket. May considers her hands to be her most valuable tool. Each basket she makes is her favorite.

Since 1988, May has been designing and crafting original, award-winning baskets. Working from her studio in Lacey Township, New Jersey, she has become a well-known and accredited artisan and teacher in Ocean County. Throughout her career, May has taught Folk Art Education in grade schools, high schools, adult schools, County parks, art festivals, and to those with special needs. She has exhibited her work at the Peto Museum of Island Heights, the Bay Head Historical Society, and the New Jersey State Museum, to name a few.

The Ocean City Arts Center is located on the second floor in the Community Center at 1735 Simpson Ave. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The Arts Center is closed on Sunday. For further information, call (609) 399-7628.