LONG BEACH, CA.- The Long Beach Museum of Art will present Engaging Nature: Contemporary Baskets from the Collection of Lloyd and Margit Cotsen, June 3 – August 21, 2005. In conjunction with California Landscapes, the Museum presents an exciting and thought-provoking selection of contemporary baskets. Organized by Museum Director Harold B. Nelson, a specialist in contemporary craft and the decorative arts, Engaging Nature includes over 35 baskets made by 14 contemporary artists living in this country and Japan. Apart from one monumental basket by John McQueen, from the Museum’s own collection, all works are on loan from the Los Angeles-based collection of Lloyd and Margit Cotsen.

Engaging Nature features work by many of the leading figures in the field of contemporary basketry including Dorothy Gill Barnes, Nancy Moore Bess, Brent Brown, Lillian Elliott and Pat Hickman, Mary Giles, Gyongy Laky, John McQueen, Doris Messick, Leon Niehues, Ed Rossbach, Hisako Sekijima, Carol Shaw-Sutton and Billie Ruth Sudduth.