ABOUT
Artist Statement
Grace Brogan is an interdisciplinary artist, currently focusing on broom making at the intersection of traditional craft and contemporary design. She is inspired by place, material, and community - cultivating connections between people, humans and the beyond human world.
Grace explores the life of raw materials and the processes that bring those items to a state of service in our current culture, with eyes open to the social, economic, and environmental impacts of that journey. Because a broom is a ubiquitous, functional object, people have a sense of familiarity and – sometimes – dismissiveness toward it. But a broom is an object open to material and design interpretation, while still remaining identifiable as a broom. In broom making, the agricultural skills of growing broom corn can be married with the arts of weaving, natural dyeing, wood working, ceramics, and more.
Grace aims to explore history, culture, function, design, and connection through broom making.
She stands behind the integrity of her brooms, which are meant to last decades when well-cared for, so come with a lifetime warranty. She takes the tradition of the craft seriously, participating in workshops with Dennis Chilcote in 2009 and Marlow Gates in 2019, as well as a fully-funded mentorship with a focus on advanced broom making and the livelihood of professional craftspeople at John C Campbell Folk School with Mark Hendry and Marlow Gates in 2023.
About Me
I’ve been drawing, making, and fiddling since as far back as I can remember.
I studied fine art as an undergraduate and soon thereafter worked at a school of traditional craft that allowed me to dig deeper into woodwork and textiles. I made my first broom in the early spring of 2009. I still dance between these spaces, and have explored various media and practices between.
I went on to pursue an interdisciplinary master’s degree to understand and communicate the ties between the environment, human culture, and the items and systems that support our everyday lives in ways both damaging and supportive to our social fabric and ecology. I am dedicated to values-based economies and careful use of our natural resources, and working to support thriving rural communities is a big part of how I spend my energy when I’m not making or writing.
My work is in permanent gallery collections and every day kitchens, and I am so grateful for the opportunities to interact with both settings.
Montana & Minnesota are my homes. Thank you for inviting my work into yours.
