Kicking off the first weekend of November, many local artists gathered to participate in the Worlds Greatest Studio Tour, an annual event designed to celebrate local artists and give them an opportunity to sell their work.
The Kentucky Museum hosted the fourth stop of the tour on Nov. 4 and 5 with participants from the WKU Department of Art & Design, ArtWorks Inc. and blacksmiths from the Kentucky Forge Council.
This year’s tour marks the 27th year of the event with around 40 artists participating at the 10 stops throughout Bowling Green and Warren County, according to the WKU Website. A variety of mediums were displayed and for sale including paintings, metalwork, jewelry, fiber, woodwork and pottery.
Tiffany Isselhardt, exhibit curator at the Kentucky Museum, said the museum has been exploring more partnerships with local arts organizations to become a center for the community to gather and get involved.
The museum set up booths for the tour and assigned artists to their spots, but from there the artist had the freedom to design their set up how they preferred, Isselhardt said.
“The artists will not only be selling their work, but there will be some artists who are demonstrating,” Isselhardt said.
From the Kentucky Forge Council, Charles Hurst and his group demonstrated their blacksmithing craft and they had hand forged items for sale during the tour.
“As local artists this is one of those opportunities where you can invite folks into your space,” Hurst said. “The studio tour is a unique opportunity to see inside everyone’s studios. With this we can show folks our tools and techniques and how we create our artwork.”
The Kentucky Museum is also currently hosting the Artworks Fall Exhibition which showcases art from 42 different members across different mediums.
“We want to be a collaborative space for everyone to come together, so this is just one of many partnerships,” Isselhardt said.
Lynette Hagbloom, ArtWorks Inc. treasurer, helped organize these two events with the museum. ArtWorks is a visual arts coalition that promotes visual arts and encourages artists through exhibitions and financial support.
According to Hagbloom, the Fall Exhibition was juried by Charles Brindley who also chose the winners.
The woodwork piece “Mary of Nazareth” by Jim Barr was selected as Best of Show, Hagbloom said.
This exhibition is available to the public until Nov. 17 at the museum, which is open Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the WKU Website.
News Reporter Madison Carter can be reached at m[email protected]
