Pat Courtney Gold

Pat Courtney Gold (January 22, 1939 – July 11, 2022) was a Wasco Native fiber artist and basket weaver from the Columbia River area of Oregon. She graduated with a BA in mathematics and physics from Whitman College and worked as a mathematician-computer specialist before beginning her career in basket weaving. Gold harvested traditional plant fibers to use in her work, including dogbane, cattail, sedge grass, red cedar bark and tree roots. Her pieces often reflected the natural world along the Columbia River, mixing traditional motifs such as condors and sturgeon with contemporary elements like airplanes. Gold also became an environmental and cultural educator, helping to spread knowledge of her ancestral heritage and basketry skills.

Gold's art is exhibited in museums around the world, including the High Desert Museum, Royal British Columbia Museum, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University and Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

She was featured in a 2007 episode of the PBS series ''Craft in America''. Provided by Wikipedia