WNC Virginia A. Groot Material Exploration Residency
2025
Ky’Lee Robison, a proud enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee and of Mvskoke Creek heritage, is a traditional basket maker and interdisciplinary artist. She honors the full life cycle of her art — harvesting, processing, dyeing, and weaving natural materials into new life.
Ky’Lee began basket making at age 10 under the mentorship of renowned EBCI traditional basket maker Louise Goings and her husband, EBCI traditional carver Butch Goings. Now one of the few basket makers of her generation, she works to preserve and share traditional knowledge. She teaches and collaborates with organizations such as the Lindy Waters III Foundation, making cultural knowledge and traditional basket making more accessible for future generations.
Her interdisciplinary art reflects her deep connection to her ancestral homelands and honoring traditional basket-dyeing techniques. She uses bloodroot, black walnut, and yellowroot for her natural dyes. Coming from a family of cultural stewards — her father a celebrated Mvskoke Creek stickball stick maker — Ky’Lee’s work is rooted in EBCI and Mvskoke Creek core values along with humility, gratitude, and a commitment to community. Through her craft, she honors the seven generations before her and sustains these traditions for the seven generations to come.
Selected works
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67 Broadway St, Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 785-1357 | info@centerforcraft.org
Gallery Hours: Tues–Sat, 10–6 get more info
Gallery Hours: Closed — Reopening Fall 2019
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