TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Cherokee, Penobscot

MEDIUM: Basketry

ARTIST STATEMENT
Caleb Hoffman (Cherokee/Penobscot born 1991) has been making baskets since he was 8 yrs old and represents the 7th generation of Wabanaki basketmakers in his family. He first learned to weave from his Penobscot mother, Theresa Secord. As a youth, he attended many Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance (MIBA) community basketry workshops, festivals, and markets over 20 yrs, and had access to a number of Wabanaki artists and teachers. In 2023, he became an apprentice to Jeremy Frey, a Passamaquoddy basketmaker and recent MacArthur Genius Fellow. Caleb is also a studio worker, helping to prepare weaving materials; including cutting down ash trees, pounding the logs, splitting, scraping and gauging the wood. Caleb participated in his f irst Santa Fe Indian Market in August 2024, as an adult juried artist and was honored to win the Best of Basketry award. Since then, he has won awards for his basketry in Santa Fe in 2025 and in the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market in Phoenix in 2026. He also weaves baskets for significant museum collections and exhibitions and for private collections.

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