Art and Design Commons^™

The Past Is Open To The Future: Lithuanian Folk Pottery 1861 - Present, Anthony E. Stellaccio

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In 2011, following several years of in-country research, I published a book on Lithuanian folk pottery. I enrolled in the Folk Studies master’s program at Western Kentucky University (WKU) in 2014, well after my research and book had been completed. In the present study, I use my newly acquired knowledge of folklore In my previous work to revisit Lithuanian folk pottery.

In my previous work, I had sought to create a picture of “authentic” Lithuanian folk pottery that was confined to the narrow temporal borders of 1861-1918. Here I deconstruct conventional ideas about authenticity, as well as culture and heritage, …

Vadie Williams, Folk Artist: Drawnwork As A Reflection Of Personal Identity In Rural Kentucky, Elizabeth Hester

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study focuses on Vadie Conner Williams, an individual folk artist, and the drawnwork she has created throughout her lifetime. Included is a description of her rural farm background, her needlework skills and her creative process. The study also examines the significance of drawnwork to Williams and determines how she has adapted her work to satisfy her personal needs as well as the needs of her customers. Based on tape recorded interviews and a close examination of her work, the study concludes that drawnwork is an integral part of Williams's everyday life; it is an indicator of her beliefs and …

At The Spiritual Grassroots: An Analysis Of Visionary Art & Artists, Ann Taft

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this thesis I focus on an art form alternately described as "naive," "visionary," "environmental," "singular," "individual," or "grassroots." Not easily placed within established academic or popular art categories, such art usually lands by default in the folk art pile and is quickly cast to the peripheries of that genre. In this thesis, I am not concerned with inventing another label for these artists and their work. Instead, I explore the possibility that visionary art may be a separate genre, but one to which folklore analysis may usefully be brought to bear.

Chapter One is a historical and bibliographical analysis …

The Loving Of The Game: A Study Of Basketry In The Mammoth Cave Area, Denis O. Kiely

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The production and marketing of baskets in the Mammoth Cave area of Kentucky from 1880 to the present is observed in light of the cultural, technical, aesthetic, ad traditional aspects involved. The process of making a white oak ribbed basket is documented, as well as the technical and aesthetic variables from which the basket maker renders his product. The changing role of social organization and communication in the production and marketing of a traditional craft objects is also considered.

The Price Of Folk: The Progression Of Two Decoy Makers’ Work From Folk To Non-Folk, Benjamin Vincent

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Applying the standards for delineating folkcraft developed by Japanese scholar Soetsu Yanagi to the work of two Maryland decoy makers, Lem and Steve Ward, revealed that the Wards’ work followed a progression from folk to non-folk. A Hearst newspaper chain article on the two carvers plus winning first place at the New York Decoy Show brought publicity far beyond that usually encountered by the average folk craftsman. These events also exposed the two brothers to a range of wealthy collectors. When the Wards began to experiment with ornately carved birds, they had a waiting, and financially capable market. The extremely …

Procedures For The Processing, Cataloging, And Classification Of A Non-Circulating Historical Art Print Collection, Linda Ray

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In order to establish specific procedures for processing, cataloging and classifying the art print collection at the Kentucky Library, Western Kentucky University, data were gathered from three sources. These were: (1) information on current procedures used in the Kentucky Library, obtained through an interview with Riley Handy, the Kentucky Librarian (2) a search of related literature and (3) a questionnaire survey of other institution having art print collections.

It was found that historically valuable art prints, which are used primarily as documentary resources, need to be carefully processed and stored so as to preserve and protect them from damaging effects …

Intercultural Influences In Early Peruvian Ceramic Design And Decoration, Clinton Pace

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

About eleven thousand years ago the earliest known human inhabitants of the Central Andean area began a lifestyle which developed into some of the richest cultures of the ancient American civilizations. The people living in this thirteen-hundred-mile arid mountain zone, which is now the nation of Peru, produced some of the most outstanding examples of ceramics in the world before the birth of Christ.

The purpose of this study was to examine representative examples from various early Peruvian cultures in an attempt to identify their characteristics and to determine the extent to which the pottery forms of certain early cultures …