Creative kids pick up art of weaving, thanks to Forkland Community Center
Published 10:21 am Friday, March 23, 2018
- Students of Pat Williams' work on learning weaving techniques recently at the Forkland Community Center in Gravel Switch. They are: above, from left, Allie and Josiah Wardrip; above right, Madison Guse and Emily Johnson; bottom left, Mario Jones (foreground) and Chaim Jones; bottom right, Ashley Guse. "Miss Pat," as her students call her, shares her wide range of art experiences in classes for kids at the center. In these photos, youth are using a variety of materials that Williams has collected over the years.
By MIMI BECKER
Contributing writer
The Forkland Community Center is home to many activities throughout the year. The center is well known for its focus on the preservation of the cultural heritage of the close knit community.
It is very important to the longtime residents of Forkland to carry traditions forward for those who live there, their descendants and the many visitors who travel to join in on festivals, such as the Fall Arts and History Day for Kids in September and the Fall Forkland Festival in October.
Each week during the year, Pat Williams, “Miss Pat” as she is known to her students, shares her considerable wealth of knowledge and expertise in a wide range of art experiences in classes at the community center. Children of all ages experiment and create using a variety of materials Williams has collected over the years.
This week, the students are learning to weave on several different types of looms. As Williams instructs one group, those students help to pass the skills on to the next students. The students are challenged to work through the steps in the weaving process required by the different looms.
Weaving is an art form which has been in existence for possibly as much as 8000 years with evidence of woven items found in West Asia. The process involved simple finger techniques. The product was often utilitarian, but also some decorative pieces were created.
The Forkland art students are participating this spring in the Youth Art Fair which runs through the end of March and is sponsored by the Arts Commission of Danville-Boyle County, the Community Arts Center and the Boyle County Extension Office.
Mimi Becker is director of the the Arts Commission of Danville-Boyle County.
IF YOU GO
The Forkland Community Center is located at 16479 Forkland Road in Gravel Switch. It also will be holding its annual Easter egg hunt 11 a.m. March 31. To find out more about the center, visit forklandcomctr.org or call (859) 332-7146.
