Quicksand Craft Center: Documentation & Analysis of a Handweaving Program in Vest, Kentucky

• Main Author: Champion, Deborah
• Format: Others
• Published: TopSCHOLAR® 1989
• Subjects: Appalachia; Arts & Crafts; Anthropology; Business; Economics; Education; Home Economics; Regional Economics; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2217; https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3217&context=theses

Data on the handweaving program at the Quicksand Craft Center in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky were compiled and analyzed. Four areas--history of the craft program, business organization and financial structure, weave patterns of goods woven and sold by the craft center, and weavers employed in the program --were examined to assess the success of the program in the local community. Factors in the four areas examined contributed to the success of the program. The benevolence, perseverance, and co-operation of the founders, directors and community members involved with the craft center have been largely responsible for the continued success of the program. The non-profit organizational structure of the craft program was financially stable and met federal guidelines for tax exemption. Weave patterns in goods produced at the craft center were basically traditional with modern adaptations in fibers and end products. Influence of the handweaving program in the lives of weavers and their families was primarily positive.