Donna and Donnie Smith, of Waco, will demonstrate their carved and painted gourds from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 7, at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea.

The Smiths’ journey as craftspeople began 23 years ago, when they planted gourds by their back porch. Donna eventually left her full-time job, and she and her husband, Donnie, became full-time gourd artists. Their work is a partnership, with Donna decorating the gourds with floral images or leaves that enhance the gourds’ natural shapes. Some of their pieces become vases, when they take long-neck gourds and embellish them with vertical images.

Donna, who has a background in graphic design, draws on the gourd first with pencil, and then with a wood burning tool. The gourds are next painted with watercolors, inks, dyes and water-based stains, and sealed with a clear acrylic.

Most of the Smiths’ gourds are raised on their 5-acre farm. A good dried gourd, though, is just the beginning. Each gourd must be washed to remove the outer skin which has molded and left an interesting pattern and texture on the gourd surface. Once the gourd is clean, it is sanded before its lid is cut. Donnie is constantly finding creative ways to cut gourds, transforming them into baskets and lidded vessels using cut-out filigreed designs that enhance and integrate the painted surface and form. Their newest designs have wooden inset bases that allow greater stability for the more vertical and asymmetrical gourds.

Gourds by Donna and Donnie Smith are regularly available at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea, 200 Artisan Way, just off Interstate -75 at Berea exit 77. The center’s exhibits, shopping and travel information areas are open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the cafe is open from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Admission is free. The center currently features works by more than 650 artisans from 100 counties across the Commonwealth. A special exhibition, “About Face: Kentucky Artisan Works Inspired by the Human Face,” is on display through Aug. 26, and a lobby exhibit “Thinking Big: Oversized Works by Kentucky Artisans,” is on display through April 28. For information call 859-985-5448, or visit the center’s website at www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov

The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is an agency in the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Contact Information: Gwen Heffner
gwen.heffner@ky.gov
Information Specialist

Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea
Phone: 859 – 985-5448 ext. 230

“The Higher Ground series describes in nuanced tones and local accents the hard realities of life here in Harlan.” –The New York Times

The Center for Appalachian Studies at Eastern Kentucky University will present an original community musical drama, Higher Ground 3: Talking Dirt, Monday April 9th, 2012 at 6:00PM in the auditorium at the Student Services Building on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky.

Talking Dirt features a cast of forty musicians and actors from Harlan County, Kentucky and includes twelve musical numbers including soul, country, folk, bluegrass, and gospel songs as well as new songs by the production company. The play explores issues related to mining and decisions about the land. The play includes Kentucky coalfield migration stories, stories of young people deciding whether or not to leave the coalfields, and stories related to coalfield ethnic diversity. Talking Dirt also examines the way people talk to one another, the stories that are easily told, and those that are sometimes avoided. The house band for Higher Ground 3: Talking Dirt is The Kudzu Killers, who will also do a half-hour of music immediately before the curtain.

Talking Dirt was created from stories collected locally by Harlan County community members, primarily students at Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College (SKCTC. The play is produced by the SKCTC Appalachian Program and Carpetbag Theatre, Inc., an ensemble theater company based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Visiting artists collaborating with SKCTC Appalachian Center staff on the original production which premiered in Cumberland in the spring of 2011 include: director Robert Martin, assistant director Pamela D. Roberts, and choreographer Kevin Iega Jeff. Linda Parris-Bailey is the playwright and executive director of Carpetbag Theatre, Inc. SKCTC Appalachian Program staff Robert Gipe and Theresa Osborne worked on the script and serve as executive producers for Talking Dirt. SKCTC professor of music Ann Schertz is the production’s music director. SKCTC theater director Michael Corriston designed the sets.

Talking Dirt is the third production in the Higher Ground series. The two previous plays, Higher Ground and Playing With Fire, were also produced by the SKCTC Appalachian Program. All the Higher Ground plays try to involve as many community people as possible, and celebrate the strength, talent, wisdom, spirit, courage, and heart present in the local community. The plays have been featured in a Kentucky Educational Television documentary entitled Finding Higher Ground.

The event at Eastern Kentucky University is free to the public, although a $5 donation to support the travel and expenses of the cast is suggested and appreciated. Reservations are recommended. For more information about the production, contact Robert Gipe at (606) 589-3130 or robert.gipe@kctcs.edu.

CONTACT: Robert Gipe, director, Appalachian Program, Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College, Cumberland, KY. (606) 589-3130 or robert.gipe@kctcs.edu.

Join us for a “hands on” workshop at Wallitsch Garden Center. Our program is offered as a part of Wallitsch’s “Easy Being Green” series.

Visit the website: http://www.15thousandfarmers.com/

Sunday, April 15th from 4pm-6pm at 1515 Algonquin Pkwy.

This month we welcome Wren Smith, naturalist at Bernheim Forest, to speak with us on the topic of Gardening for Community and Fun: plants as doorways into hidden worlds.

Most of us know that gardening can be good for us and good for the planet, but passionate awareness of plants can become a doorway into hidden worlds. Wren Smith will bring along her treasure trove of simple sensory-rich experiences that will connect you more deeply to the natural world, and may help you nurture new generations of gardeners, naturalists, and citizens.

Since 2000, Wren Smith has been the Bernheim Interpretive Program Manager. She is also a gardener, naturalist, wild food forager, beekeeper and storyteller. Wren started Bernheim’s award winning Naturalist-in-Training program and loves working with the dedicated volunteers that this program attracts. She is also passionate about the ways that plants, and gardening in particular, help root us to the earth, nurture community, deepen our connection to the natural world, and provide boundless opportunities for fun and festiveness. Wren has published several articles that extol the virtues of using plants to connect people to our natural and cultural heritage.

Please join other members of 15Thousand Farmers on Sunday, April 15th to drink in Wren’s wisdom, enjoy a potluck meal, build community, ask questions, share knowledge, and trade seeds and plants!

email: info@15thousandfarmers.com
Visit the website: http://www.15thousandfarmers.com/

Our beginning food growing workshop will get you started growing food in your backyard, patio, deck, or balcony.

We cover the basics of planning your garden space, choosing, planting and maintaining your crops, and making and using compost.

When the weather permits, our workshops are held in our Dismas St. Ann demonstration garden, so be ready to get your hands in the dirt to grow healthy, tasty food.

We’ll have fabulous Heine Brothers’ Coffee for you, too! Come on out for some magic and fun.

e-mail: info@15thousandfarmers.com
Visit the website: http://www.15thousandfarmers.com/

http://www.greenconvene.org
http://www.facebook.com/greenconvene

We meet each month for approximately one hour to discuss a relevant topic pertaining to sustainable policy in Louisville.

Speakers: Ann Bowe, Landscape Designer and Mary Carol Cooper, Retired Native Plant Coordinator, Salato Wildlife Education Center

Fee: FREE

Movie: www.pfzmedia.com

Fee: FREE

Movie: www.flowthefilm.com/trailer

Speakers: Esther Moberly, LFUCG Recycling Center; Steve Davis, Program Director Bluegrass Career Development Center; and Dan Arnett, Good Foods Market & Café Store Manager

Fee: FREE

Movie: www.dosomethingreel.com/films/bagit.php

Speaker: Thomas Webb, LFUCG Environmental Initiatives Program Manager

Movie: www.yert.com