Artist Douglas K. Limon (Leech Lake Ojibwe/Oneida) of White Bear Lake, MN has been awarded a $19,980 Folk and Traditional Arts grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board for The Cradleboard Project. The artist hopes to rekindle the art of the traditional cradleboard by constructing four cradleboards with his signature beaded inlay designs.
Limon first learned to bead the traditional way at the age of 5 rom his mother. The artist got the idea a couple years ago when he and his wife, Rachel Limon, made a traditional Ojibwe cradleboard for their youngest son. That cradleboard made a positive impact on his family and the community. "What I learned from the experience is that too many people in the community had little or no knowledge of how to construct a traditional Ojibwe cradleboard. This is why I decided to do The Cradleboard Project," said Limon. "I will bring the community together to rekindle the tradition of the cradleboard before it is lost to the Minnesota Ojibwe forever."
Limon will document the creation of the cradleboard process in a photo journal during his workshop at the Osseo Drum & Dance program in the 2011-2012 school year. After the workshop the cradleboards and the photo journal will go on exhibit. Two exhibitions are scheduled in April and May of 2012. One at the Elder’s Lodge in St. Paul, MN and one at the 16th Osseo Area Schools Indian Education Day and Wacipi in Osseo, MN.
The total project cost is $24,980. The major expense goes to labor (artist, photographer, seamstress and wood crafter), materials for four cradleboards, conducting the workshops and coordinating two exhibitions. The beadwork is very labor intensive. The inlay is 10 inches in diameter and takes approximately 140 hours to complete.
The artist has to raise an additional $5,000 to cover administration and marketing costs for the project. He has set up a Kickstarter page to raise additional money. Limon has also set up a FaceBook page at http://sn.im/fb_cradleboard. To donate to The Cradle Board project, see their Kickstarter page at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1339520896/the-cradleboard-project.
