botanical letters
Designated by the Kentucky legislature as the Folk Art and Craft Capital of Kentucky, Berea brims with artistry. Thanks to the Festival Learnshops, the folks in Berea want you not only to enjoy the art there but also to learn how to make your own.
The Learnshops began nine years ago, and the little festival keeps getting bigger and bigger. Last July, tiring of the endless renovations on our old house in Louisville, my husband, Larry, and I took a mini-vacation to Berea and signed up for a couple of craft workshops.
It turned out to be a weekend of learning, plus a great getaway to a town we didn’t really know. Sure, we’d been to the Kentucky Artisan Center right off I-75, and we’d had the spoonbread at Boone Tavern, but we’d never stayed overnight or really explored the town. Fellow Kentuckians, if you have not spent time in Berea, you may want to put the Learnshops on your to-do list.
The Learnshops are workshops that last anywhere from two hours to four days. If you want to learn how to make mead like a Viking, crochet a cactus, or create your own podcast, there’s a class on that. This year, there are more than 170 Learnshops and 300 sessions (since some classes are taught more than once). With 14 categories ranging from printmaking to blacksmithing, and two additional categories for educators, it’s hard to think of something you couldn’t learn to make at the Learnshops.
The impetus for the festival was local artists who had begun hosting workshops on their own in their studios, which gave the folks at the Berea Tourism Commission an idea. “Why not make a big program that brings artists and people from all over?” asked Aja Croteau, the commission’s former community relations manager. “Not only can you see it happening and buy it, you get to be the artist.”
It’s a formula that seems to be working. According to program manager Nancy Conley, people from 32 states and two other countries were at last year’s event. “It’s gotten bigger every year,” she said.
When the Learnshops started in 2011, the fest lasted nine days and had 264 registrations. In 2018, there were more than 1,200 registrations.
“We do see folks planning their vacation around Learnshops,” Conley said. “They drive in and fly in from all over. We had a lady joining us from Congleton, England [last year].”
One of the marketable aspects of the Learnshops is their appeal to all ages and interests. According to Conley, “We see families coming, ladies coming for a girls retreat. A lot of times, a husband, wife and kids split up and go to different areas.”
What if you didn’t plan ahead? Not a problem. “Space permitting, you can register right until the class starts,” Conley said. Some sessions sell out pretty quickly, though, so it’s a good idea to do some advance planning.
My husband is an outdoorsy, uber-DIY kind of guy, so he signed up for a class on how to make your own chisel and Japanese-style plane—not the flying kind, the woodworking kind. The class covered a wide age spectrum—from a teenager to a couple well into their retirement years. It was a six-hour class and included working with a forge, which, incidentally, the instructor had made himself.
Not being handy with things that involve fire, I observed for a while, then checked out the shops at the “Old Town” Artisan Village. There were plenty of examples of Appalachian crafts, and I recognized some of the goods as items that could be made in Learnshops.
This may seem odd, but it was a hot July afternoon, and watching people work with a forge did not cool me off. The local pool did, though. The Berea Swimming Pool is 9,200 square feet of cool heaven. It includes a play area for children, wheelchair accessibility and swimming lanes. At just $4 for an adult admission, it was a deal.
There are plenty of places to stay while in Berea, and the town embraces this festival of learning. Shops and hotels give discounts if you show you’re in town for Learnshops. Whether you want to stay at a chain like Holiday Inn, enjoy the historic Boone Tavern Hotel, or camp out at the Walnut Meadow RV Park, all offer discounts during the Festival of Learnshops. Check out visitberea.com for other places to stay. And you may want to check out the shops that give a discount if you show your participants’ badge.
In addition to the Learnshops, there are plenty of activities in Berea during the summer months.
“In July, there’s always something to do and something going on,” Conley said. Friday nights, from July 19 through Oct. 4, offer Levitt AMP Music Series nights in Artisan Village. Bands perform on the porch, vendors—including food trucks—are on the street, and people gather on the lawn to enjoy the show.
Berea has won a nationwide grant for three years in a row to present the music series. On its website, the Levitt Foundation explains why Berea was chosen for the music series. “The 2019 series will continue to solidify ‘Old Town’ as a vibrant, welcoming and inclusive hub for art, food and community gatherings.”
Berea offers some fantastic restaurant options. Larry and I visited Native Bagel Company, Noodle Nirvana and Dinner Bell Restaurant. On Saturday, we grabbed lunch at the local farmers market, which had delicious sandwiches from Sunny Wolf Farm. The farmers market is open 9 a.m-1 p.m. Saturday at 416 Chestnut Street. The Amish pastries are exquisite.
We both signed up for the Woodturning: Vase/Candleholder class taught by Bob Bagley. It was a blast. The class was held in a big barn, back among green fields. The setting was lovely, calm and bucolic. The quiet of the countryside, though, ended once we entered the barn. There were woodworking machines and tools everywhere, stacks of wood scraps, other classes being held, and the intoxicating smell of fresh wood shavings.
It turns out that we were the only students for that particular class, so we got plenty of personal attention. The session started with an overview of safety procedures, which is good because that whirring machine looked like it could do some damage if I didn’t pay attention. I appreciated the small class, as I’d never used a wood lathe before, and it took me a while to get used to leaning into my chisel as the wood turned and I made a vase.
Larry and I decided to make matching candleholders, and we used tongs to measure our wood, marking lines of where to dig deeper with the chisel and where to hold back. I was earnest and intense. I leaned in, chipping away a little at a time, careful to use the right form so that I didn’t allow the lathe to make the embarrassing chatter that announces to everyone that you’re bordering on incompetent.
I looked up to see that Bob and Larry were chatting, while Bob kept an eye on me. And Larry was putting a finishing polish on his candleholder. Realizing that at the rate I was going, I’d finish my project in roughly 36 more hours, I asked the guys for help, and they got my candleholder to look fairly similar to the one Larry had made.
I’d tried something out of my comfort zone, and I can’t lie: It was pretty exhilarating. I had a great time, and Bob was a patient teacher. The candleholders stay on our dining room table, a reminder of a fun project Larry and I did together.
Life can be a little tedious, with paying bills, doing laundry, buying groceries and all the little maintenance tasks that each day requires. The Learnshops are a great way to loosen up, get in touch with your artistic side, and try something new. The fact that they’re held in the creative town of Berea makes them that much better.
As Conley explained, “I came to college at Berea and never left. I fell in love with it.”
Berea Festival of Learnshops 2019
July 12—August 2
For more information, visit visitberea.com/festival-of-learnshops