What's Happening in Roswell, GA…

Roswell's Smith Plantation is the site of the Smith Family Collection Basket Exhibit, which opened earlier this month.

The exhibit puts special focus on African and Native American baskets, showing the styles that epitomize the creators' weaving traditions, and the methods and materials they used. Betsy Trope, who is the curator, says the baskets are really works of art. The African and Cherokee basket makers were experts at taking the materials they found in nature and using them to create items that were functional, but also beautiful. In Georgia and South Carolina, a tradition of making sweetgrass baskets persists to this day.

The Smith Plantation was built in 1845, and the Smith family has preserved it ever since, opening it to the public as a museum. Roswell grew up around the plantation, transforming itself from a mill village to a modern suburb. The plantation stands as a great example of the type of antebellum architecture found in the region.

Visitors to the plantation can see the basket exhibit as part of their tour. Tours of the main plantation house are given daily from May 1 through December 31, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Tours start every hour from 10.00 am until 3.00 pm Mondays through Saturdays, and 1.00 pm until 3.00 pm Sundays.

The exhibit is open now through December 31. Organizers of events like this can use graphic design to create suitable backgrounds for the exhibits.