To Marlton resident Hope Fuhs, her handmade baskets are so much more than just baskets. They have become a labor of love she has shared with friends and family for decades.
Now, her work is available for all to see at the Medford Arts Center.
Baskets of Hope is a special exhibit at the arts center that features the work of Fuhs, a retired math teacher who took up basket-making almost 30 years ago and has never looked back.
Fuhs began to make baskets in the mid-1980s after trying various forms of sewing and stitching.
“I saw a kit one day in one of the craft stores and did it,” she said.
Fuhs took to making the baskets more than any other art form she tried.
“I could get some aggressions out for the day,” she said with a laugh.
Wanting to become more involved in her new hobby, she attended a Basketmakers Association convention in Indiana to learn more.
“I paid my dues to the convention, I think it was $15 for the year,” Fuhs said. “I figured it was 30 old ladies in someone’s garage, and it turned out it was for 1,000 people.”
Not only does Fuhs still attend conventions each year to take new classes, but she even teaches her own classes now. She and her husband began traveling to Florida about 10 years ago after they both retired.
When she saw the snowbird community where they stayed had different instructional classes, she decided to teach her baskets to others.
For her first class, she was shocked to find 21 people show up.
“It was something new,” Fuhs said. “They just wanted to see.”
Fuhs’ classes aren’t quite as large now, but she still teaches classes of about six to eight people today. She makes baskets at home and will bring them to Florida to teach it to her students.
The baskets have become a part of Fuhs’ life. She made the baskets in between her job as a math teacher at Shawnee High School and Sequoia Alternative High School while she was still teaching. She said family and friends loved her work and she would constantly make them for special events such as someone having a baby, birthdays and holidays.
Fuhs estimates that she’s made more than 120 baskets since taking up the hobby. She said she makes about 15 per year.
“Sometimes, I’m thinking of new things and I’m thinking of what I did and what I could have done,” Fuhs said. “I find myself making them for other people.”
The Medford Arts Center turned its attention toward Fuhs after her two daughters submitted some of her work to Exhibitions Coordinator Tracey Femiano.
“They came into my house and took some of my baskets,” Fuhs said. “(Femiano)’s the one who said yes and she picked the Dickens Festival.”
With visitors coming in and out of the Medford Arts Center during the Dickens Festival on Dec. 7, Baskets for Hope was viewed by many and received a lot of positive responses from the public.
Baskets for Hope runs at the Medford Arts Center through Jan. 19. The center is open to the public Friday through Sunday, and the exhibit is free to visit.
