A clear sky. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable..
A clear sky. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable.
A man produces a large bubble during the kick off celebration for the Festival of Learnshops on Friday.
Blake Vickers/bvickers@richmondregister.com
Blacksmith Jeff Farmer (left) and jeweler Becky Brown attend the kick off to the festival.
Bluegrass musicians perform for the crowd during the Festival of Learnshops kick off.
A man produces a large bubble during the kick off celebration for the Festival of Learnshops on Friday.
Blake Vickers/bvickers@richmondregister.com
Blacksmith Jeff Farmer (left) and jeweler Becky Brown attend the kick off to the festival.
Bluegrass musicians perform for the crowd during the Festival of Learnshops kick off.
BEREA – It was a long road getting there, but one of the signature events of arts capital of Kentucky returned on Friday night.
Berea’s Chestnut Street Pavilion played host to the kick off party for the 10th annual Festival of LearnShops. The event will go daily on until July 24.
LearnShops are classes taught by a wide variety of artisans. Participants can get hands-on experience in everything from the sgraffito technique in pottery and blacksmithing, to baking and cornucopia design. Classes vary in price (going anywhere from $30 to $300, due to cost of materials), size, and location.
The Festival of Learnshops offers 90 classes taught over the course of 10 days. It makes its return for the first time since 2019, as the pandemic made it impossible to hold such an event.
Friday night saw several of the artisans who teach the classes come together at the pavilion with potential students for a night of music, food, and laughs.
“This is our 10th anniversary celebration for our Festival of LearnShops. We didn’t get to celebrate in 2020, obviously. We are finally having the opportunity to celebrate tonight. Today kicks off our 10 days of over 91 classes,” Berea Tourism Program Manager Liz Todd said. “Tonight ,we’re having some live music with Donna and Lewis Lamb. We’ve got some delicious ham biscuits and some snack foods and and ice cold water. Just some communion with some of our artists.”
Artisans in attendance included blacksmith Jeff Farmer, jeweler Becky Brown, and woodworker Will Bondurant. It was an easygoing and cheery scene on Friday night as Bluegrass music rang out in the air and bubbles were blown as people of all ages passed through the pavilion.
The courses made a gradual return starting in Sept. 2021, with several LearnShop weekends occurring over the course of the fall and winter season. Some were even holiday-themed in nature, with a festive weekend of LearnShops held in November in time for the holiday season and couples LearnShops being held in February for Valentine’s Day.
While a lot of classes have been booked up, as of Friday, Todd said there is still plenty of room to get in.
“It’s gone swimmingly well and we think the next nine days of classes after this will be awesome. A lot of the classes are sold out, but there are still classes available online,” Todd said.
The following LearnShops are still available as of Monday evening.
Leaf Printing on Silk Scarves – Mary Ann Woolery-Bussey
Make and Take Santa – Lindy Evans
Bling Scrap Bracelet – Linda Stephenson
Button and Bead Necklace and Earrings – Linda Stephenson
Sgraffito: The Art of Carving on Clay Bowls – Jonathan Dazo
Alcohol Markers and Colored Pencils – Jeannette Jones
Americana Gathering Basket- Jan Treesh
Handmade Paper Beads and Semi-Precious Stone Earrings – Fran Morris Mandel
Bead-Embroidered Semi Precious Stone Pendant
Forge a Letter Opener and a Leaf Key Ring- Jeff Farmer
Forge a Spiral Candle Holder – Jeff Farmer
Forge a Heart Rose Paperweight – Jeff Farmer
Make a Set of Three Shaker Boxes – Will Bondurant
Make a Set of 4 Nesting Shaker Boxes – Will Bondurant
Shiitake and Oyster Mushroom Log Inoculation – Robin Reed
To learn more or sign up for the remaining LearnShops, visit https://visitberea.com.
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