The Farnsworth Art Museum is deeply saddened by the passing of famed basket maker Molly Neptune Parker. The matriarch of four generations of Passamaquoddy basket weavers, Parker was selected to be one of the 13 Women of Vision recipients of the Farnsworth’s Maine in America Award. Parker began weaving baskets at a young age, using the scraps of ash wood that fell to the floor as her mother worked, and until recently led efforts to share this tradition with young people. Born in Indian Township, she was the recipient of a Maine Arts Commission Fellowship Award for Traditional Arts, a New England Foundation for the Arts Native Arts Award, a First Peoples Fund Community Spirit Award, and was named a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage fellow in 2012.

Commented Farnsworth Director Christopher J. Brownawell, “The Farnsworth mourns the passing of one of Maine’s cultural leaders. Her dedication in preserving the Passamaquoddy traditions and values was equaled only in her passion for passing on her knowledge to future generations. Maine and the Nation have lost a true Woman of Vision.”

The Farnsworth is looking forward to celebrating Parker, along with other Women of Vision, as recipients of the museum’s Maine in America Award in the coming year and leading up to an award ceremony in 2021. For more information about Molly Neptune Parker and the Women of Vision, please visit www.farnsworthmuseum.org.

Named by the Boston Globe as one of the finest small museums in the country, the Farnsworth Art Museum offers a nationally recognized collection of works from many of America’s greatest artists. It is the only museum dedicated solely to American and Maine-inspired art. Through its remarkable collection of more than 15,000 works, inventive exhibitions, wide-ranging intellectual resources, and energetic educational programming, visitors from around the world gain a deep appreciation of the ongoing story of Maine’s role in American art. For more information, visit www.farnsworthmuseum.org.