Broom Making Basics

with Cate O’Connell-Richards

4-day, July 14–July 17, 3:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.

Tuition: $300

Materials Fee: $30

Become a broomsquire at Ox-Bow! Learn the foundations of handmaking brooms and whisks. This workshop will feature a presentation on the development of American broom making, including both traditional Appalachian and New England techniques, an introduction to broom making materials, and basic handmaking skills. Included will be demos on a turkey wing whisk, cobwebber, besom, and traditional flat sweeper. Students will be able to learn the basics, as well as have the time to experiment with different handles, weaves, materials, and forms.

Plan to bring: A lighter, sketchbook, pencil, opinel knife, tweezers, and any basketry tools you may already have.

Cate O’Connell-Richards (they/them) is an artist and educator, broomsquire and jeweler, currently living in Madison, Wisconsin. O’Connell-Richards has exhibited internationally and shown work at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (North Adams, Massachusetts), The Museum of Glass (Tacoma, Washington), The Trout Museum of Art (Appleton, Wisconsin), Abel Contemporary (Stoughton, WI), Hesse Flatow (New York), Lillstreet Arts Center (Chicago), and the Gallery im Körnerpark (Berlin). They have been awarded several travel grants for craft research, including funding for fieldwork in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and at the Foxfire Museum and Appalachian Heritage Center in Georgia. In 2024, they received a Craft Research Fund Project Grant from the Center for Craft to study the history of American broom making. Their writing has been published by Surface Design Journal (2024), and Mergoat Magazine (2023). They have been invited to teach workshops at the Kansas City Textile Arts Center, Ox-Bow School of Art, Lawrence Arts Center, and Appalachian Center for Craft. Currently, they are a Lecturer for the UW-Madison Art Department.

Images courtesy of the artist.