WKU News

Bringing together makers from across the Southern states, the Kentucky Museum welcomes the public to Meet the Makers Day on August 22, 2024, from 12:30 to 3:30 pm. The event is part of the annual White Oak Gathering, which celebrates basketmaking traditions of Kentucky and the Southeast. Meet the Makers Day will feature an afternoon of demonstrations as makers process a white oak tree - from start of splitting to the finished basket product - that offer the public a chance to learn about this time-honored Kentucky tradition.

The schedule is as follows:

12:30 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. - Meet the Collectors
Discover lifelong maker and collector Beth Hester's life story as she gives audiences a tour of the newly-opened Hester-Gilbert exhibition. This exhibition features baskets collected by Hester and her partner, Scott Gilbert, during their lives as makers and world travelers. Hester will tell exciting stories about the baskets, including when and where they were collected and the basket makers behind each basket's remarkable construction and culture. 

1:15 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. - Splitting the Tree
Join maker Billy Smith for a demonstration of splitting a white oak log, starting with a one-half log. Smith will narrate the process of selecting, harvesting, and splitting white oak trees in the forests of Kentucky. Smith will discuss the various methods of splitting, from a 4-to-5-foot long log to splitting it into halves, quarters, and eighths until it has become thin splits.

2:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. - Refining the Splits
Micah Wiles will continue the presentation, refining splits created by Smith in preparation for basket making. Micah will narrate the process of trimming the edges and refining the splits to personal preference to achieve uniformity in the basket's look.

2:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. - Basket Making
Makers Mary Ann Smith and Vicki Hast will demonstrate taking the refined splits to make two different types of baskets. Mary Ann Smith will create an egg basket, while Vicki Hast creates a market basket. (Please note that some parts of the baskets may be pre-made to save demonstration time, but the makers will narrate these parts of the process.) 

Throughout the day, visitors will be able to view the newly opened From Many Hands: The Hester-Gilbert Basket Story and a pop-up exhibition of visiting makers' works. 

For more information, including maker biographies, click here.