Milwaukee Irish Fest Summer School Instructors
Note: All times are listed in CENTRAL TIME ZONE. Thank you!
Shannon Lucas-Westrum
Instructor Website: https://www.shannonlucaswestrum.com/
Teaching A03: Celtic Knot Basket (T-W-Th), CKC: Celtic Kids Camp Crafts (T-W-Th), and FS07: Hearth Broom Making (Friday only)
Shannon Lucas-Westrum, is a basketry artist who is experimenting with the fusion of tradition and modern styles.. Her love of fiber and texture began when she learned to crochet as a child. That began creating with yarn, wood, beads, paper, and leather. From there, it was a continuous weave of materials and techniques, adding some here, discarding there. A maker was born. She began serious practice as a basket maker in the late 1990’s with local community education classes and fiber arts guilds.
Her work is a blend of cultures, traditions, and technical skills. After spending years asking questions about culture and tradition and how to represent them in her art, she began the pursuit of learning traditional European weaving techniques and materials. She has worked with basket makers from around the United States, Spain, and Denmark. She then took a pilgrimage to Ireland, working with Joe Hogan, a traditional Irish basket maker turned modern artist, followed by an arts residency at Shankill Castle in Kilkenny, IE. Her most recent journey, in May 2025, took her to work on willow basketry with Anne Liebmann in Edinburgh, Scotland.
She has been awarded the 2025 McKnight Fiber Artists Fellowship, Creative Individuals Grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board (2021, 2023) Arts Education Grants (2024, 2025) and a Region 2 Arts Council Fellowship (2018) and Shankill Castle Artist-in-Residence (2018). She has exhibited her work at Shankill Castle, Kilkenny, IE; Armory Arts & Event Center, Park Rapids, MN; MacRostie Art Center, Grand Rapids, MN; and numerous group exhibitions across Minnesota. She teaches basket making workshops year-round in Minnesota, partnering with regional galleries, guilds, and libraries.
Wildflower Cottage Shop