BEREA, Ky. – One college student is putting on a demonstration, open to the public.
On Saturday, a Berea College student from the Berea College Student Industries program will create brooms from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea.
Berea College has been the home of a century-long tradition of preserving and creating Appalachian folk arts and crafts.
The College Student Crafts Program is one of many labor departments and learning environments in which Berea College students work as part of their liberal arts education. Broomcraft has been a part of the Berea College Student Craft Program since 1920 when equipment from a broom factory was given to the college.
Students work in Broomcraft and other craft programs for sometimes their entire college career. They become adept in the techniques required to make the wide variety of brooms the college produces.
Students learn every step in the process, from shredding the broomcorn to the final broom stitching. Braiding is one of the final steps to the finished product, requiring dexterity, practice and skill.
Brooms made by Berea College are regularly available at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea, located at 975 Walnut Meadow Road, just off Interstate 75 at exit 77 (Berea). The Center’s exhibits, shopping, and travel information areas are all open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the café from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission is free. The Center currently features works by more than 650 artisans from 100 counties across the Commonwealth.
For more information call (859) 985-5448 or visit the Center’s Web site at http://www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov/.
