{{Short description|American fiber artist and teacher}} {{Infobox person |name = Fran Reed |image = Fran Reed.jpg |caption = |birth_date = June 12, 1943 |birth_place = La Jolla, California |death_date = September 11, 2008 |death_place = Anchorage, Alaska |other_names = |known_for = |occupation = Artist, fiber artist, teacher |spouse = Dick Reed }}
'''Frances Ann Reed''' (née '''Williams'''; June 12, 1943 – September 11, 2008) was an American fiber artist and teacher based in Alaska who specialized in a distinctive style of basketry made from dried fish skins and other natural materials found in the state.<ref name=adn>{{cite news|first=Mike |last=Dunham |title=Fish skin artist Fran Reed dead at 65 |url=http://www.adn.com/life/story/523672.html |work=Anchorage Daily News |date=2008-09-12 |access-date=2008-09-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913051412/http://www.adn.com/life/story/523672.html |archive-date=September 13, 2008 }}</ref>
== Biography ==
=== Early life === Reed was born '''Frances Williams''' in La Jolla, California, on June 12, 1943, to parents Charles and Mary Alice Williams.<ref name=adn/><ref name=adnm>{{cite news |title=Frances Ann Reed|url=http://www.legacy.com/newsminer/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=118101522|work=Fairbanks Daily News-Miner|date=2008-09-28 |access-date=2008-09-29}}</ref> Reed, a competitive swimmer, graduated from La Jolla High School in 1961.<ref name=ljvn>{{cite news|title=Fran Reed Obituary|url=http://www.sdnews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2008/09/19/48d481dc9df27|work=La Jolla Village News|date=2008-09-19|access-date=2008-09-25|archive-date=2016-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125105802/http://www.sdnews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2008/09/19/48d481dc9df27|url-status=dead}}</ref> She met her husband, Dick Reed, in 1961 while both were students at the University of Oregon.<ref name=adn/> The couple had two children, Collin and Jocelyn.<ref name=adn/>
=== Career === Reed graduated from University of Oregon with a Bachelor of Science degree in art education.<ref name=asm>{{cite news |title=Fran Reed Biography|url=http://www.museums.state.ak.us/online_exhibits/reed_bio.html|work=Alaska State Museum|access-date=2008-09-25}}</ref> She began teaching weaving at an art school in Eugene, Oregon, after her graduation.<ref name=asm/>
She relocated to Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1969.<ref name=adn/> Once in Fairbanks, Reed began teaching qiviut weaving (musk ox wool) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.<ref name=adn/> She also worked as a lecturer at Alaska Pacific University, where she taught Alaska Native arts for fifteen years.<ref name=adn/> Additionally, Reed worked for the Alaska Marine Highway Elderhostel program.<ref name=adn/>
Reed began working with dried fish as an art material in 1986 using dead "river kill" fish collected from the Chena River.<ref name=asm/> The family moved south to Anchorage shortly afterwards when her husband, Dick Reed, an architect, was hired for a large project.<ref name=asm/> Southcentral Alaska offered more numerous, diverse fish species than those found near Reed's former home in Fairbanks.<ref name=asm/> This allowed her to incorporate more fish skins in her art and expand her interests.<ref name=asm/>
Through her art, Reed became an expert on the use of fish skins and their uses, especially in the traditional indigenous art of Alaska, such as baskets.<ref name=adn/> She extensively researched Alaskan fish skin and their uses independently.<ref name=asm/> Her unique art and expertise attracted attention from throughout Alaska and the rest of the United States.<ref name=adn/> This led to a number of awards and honors.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}
Reed's fish skin baskets and other crafts were featured in the book, ''Arctic Clothing'', which was published by the British Museum Press.<ref name=asm/> She received the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Artists at Giverny fellowship in 1996, which allowed her to study at the home of Claude Monet in France for three months.<ref name=adn/> She also received the Rasmuson Foundation and Western States Arts Federation fellowships during her career.<ref name=adn/> In 1989, Reed was adopted into the Tsimshian Killer Whale clan, which is also known as the Gispwudwada.<ref name=asm/>
In 1997, Reed was commissioned by the Governor of Alaska to create the prizes given to the recipients of the Alaska Governor's Arts Awards.<ref name=adn/>
Reed was awarded the Anchorage Mayor's Award for Outstanding Individual Artist by Mayor Mark Begich in 2008.<ref name=adn/> Despite being ill with cancer, Reed spent four days in 2008 at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.<ref name=adn/> Reed aided Smithsonian staff and curators to restore and identify animal skins in the museum's Native Alaskan collection.<ref name=adn/>
Reed was a member of The Friends of Fiber Arts International and Northwest Designer Craftsmen.<ref name=asm/>
=== Death === Fran Reed died of cancer on September 11, 2008, at the age of 65, in Anchorage, Alaska.<ref name=adn/><ref name=adn2>{{cite news |first=Mike|last=Dunham|title=Renowned Alaska artist Fran Reed dies |url=http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/523093.html|work=Anchorage Daily News|date=2008-09-11 |access-date=2008-09-29}}</ref> She is survived by her husband and children.
Reed's final scholarly paper, entitled ''Embellishment of the Alaska Native Gut Parka'', was presented posthumously at the 11th Biennial Textile Society of America Symposium in Honolulu, Hawaii, by Audrey Armstrong.<ref name=adnm/> Armstrong, an Athabascan basket maker and friend of Reed, had been taught many techniques and skills by Reed.<ref name=adnm/>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.rasmuson.org/ArtOnDisplay/artistGallery.php?artist_name=Fran_Reed Rasmuson Foundation Fran Reed gallery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418061813/http://www.rasmuson.org/ArtOnDisplay/artistGallery.php?artist_name=Fran_Reed |date=2008-04-18 }} * [http://www.museums.state.ak.us/online_exhibits/reed_bio.html Fran Reed Biography] * [http://www.sdnews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2008/09/19/48d481dc9df27 La Jolla Village News: Fran Reed obituary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125105802/http://www.sdnews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2008/09/19/48d481dc9df27 |date=2016-01-25 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Fran}} Category:1943 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Artists from Alaska Category:American basket weavers Category:Deaths from cancer in Alaska Category:Artists from Anchorage, Alaska Category:Artists from Eugene, Oregon Category:People from Fairbanks, Alaska Category:People from La Jolla, San Diego Category:University of Alaska Fairbanks faculty Category:American women basket weavers Category:20th-century American women textile artists Category:20th-century American textile artists Category:Textile artists from California Category:Textile artists from Alaska Category:Weavers from Alaska Category:Weavers from California