STAFF
Artist in Residence

Usha Shrikant About Usha Shrikant Usha Shrikant lives near Bombay India, and spends about 4-6 weeks in Nashville each year.   During this time, she shares her knowledge about bead embroidery, embellishments using mirrors and beads, and the culture and history of bead weaving and bead embellishment in India. Usha Shrikant is a socially-committed teacher, trainer, and artist with over twenty-five years of experience with learning, writing, and teaching about the elaborate and diverse ethnic embroidery styles of India.  She has traveled extensively throughout India to understand the rich history and traditions of Indian ethnic embroidery.   Ms. Shrikant has worked with local artisans to learn their techniques in their original form and apply them to contemporary crafts.   In 1986, she established a charitable trust to teach embroidery and stitchery to underprivileged young women and girls as a means towards self-reliance and income generation.   Through her company, Samta Enterprises, she manages and runs a clothes boutique selling hand embroidered outfits.  Most recently, Ms. Shrikant published her own book, "Ethnic Embroidery of India", which has been well-received in the United States, Europe and India.   Ms. Shrikant would like to raise awareness and appreciation for the rich embroidery styles of India, internationally through lectures, demonstrations and workshops with embroiderer's guilds, local craft shops, and universities.