Joanna E. Schanz

Joanna E. Schanz (born 1942) is an American basket weaver. She is credited with reviving the Amana arts of broom making and basket weaving. She wrote Willow Basketry of the Amana Colonies in 1986, in honor of Philip Dickel, who taught her how to make baskets. She won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Basketry Organization and one of her willow baskets is held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Personal life Schanz was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1942. She married her husband Norman when she was 18 years old, and in 1961 they moved to West Amana, Iowa, a village of the Amana Colonies. They later had four children. At the time, the older generation were wary of outsiders, so Schanz made an effort to involve herself in the local community, taking a job at a restaurant and participating in school activities.

Career Schanz became interested in Amana folk art after being gifted a broom that was meant to be long-lasting. The broom was made by a blind man named Phillip Graesser, who was one of the few remaining Amana broom makers. After Graesser retired, Schanz and her husband received his broom making machine and they started a shop named Broom and Basket in West Amana. They hired retired workers to create brooms using the machine, resulting in the Amana craft of broom making being revived. Dickel later began working at Amana Woolen Mill in its carding department and at Amana Corporation as a night watchman. He died in 1981, and Schanz always mentions Dickel's help with her reviving Amana basket making.

Schanz has taught others how to weave baskets as part of the Amana Arts Guild. One of her willow baskets is held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, but it is not on public display.