Woodland Arts of Central Appalachia seeks to identify place-based arts and practitioners whose work uses and celebrates products of woodlands surrounding the headwaters of the Tug Fork. With support from Mid-Atlantic Arts, and in partnership with Friends of the Tug Fork and the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environment LiKEN’s Woodland Arts initiative will produce a roster of art forms and practitioners interested in participating in public programs and events for schools, community centers, and parks and opportunities to workshop, showcase, and market woodland products throughout the region.  

Woodland arts include a wide range of crafts and performances related to hunting, fishing, wildcrafting, and just spending time in the woods. Maybe you are a person who makes things from antlers, or burls, or hides, or who can call in a gobbler, using a slate or box call you’ve made yourself, or field-dress game using a hand-made knife. 

Maybe you write poetry or songs or tell riveting tales about times you’ve spent in the woods or by the streams. Maybe you play old-time tunes named for forest species, like “Possum up a Gum Stump,” “Sugar Foot Stomp,” “Shaking Down the Acorns,” or “Chinquapin Hunting,” on an instrument made of native wood. Maybe you are known for growing, preserving, and serving not only fish and game, but delicious fruits and nuts from local shrubs and trees. Maybe you have knowledge of herbs, roots, and mushrooms and how to harvest and process those.  Maybe you produce syrup from maple, walnut, or sycamore trees, or honey from bees that pollinate trees of the woods. Maybe you’ve built or furnished your house with lumber from your woods. Maybe you make walking sticks or carve whimsies from locally sourced wood.  Maybe you paint woodland scenes on artist conks, or crochet afghans using bear claw patterns, or make quilts featuring log cabins or woodland plants, or baskets using white oak splits and honeysuckle, and using woodland plant-based dyes. Maybe you’ve modified machinery to help with the harvest and processing of woodland products. Maybe you’ve made fly ties using the fur and feathers of woodland creatures. Maybe you are a graphic artist whose art depicts and  celebrates local woodland places, species, and activities.

If you, or anyone you know, is creating art that draws upon and celebrates a woodland way of life, we’d love to hear from you!