By: Kentucky Folklife Program Folklife Specialist ~ Camille Maria Acosta

On Thursday, August 22nd, audience members filled the Kentucky Museum’s second floor as the exhibit From Many Hands: The Hester-Gilbert Basket Story was unveiled for the world to see. This particular basket exhibit weaves together the story of Beth Hester and Scott Gilbert, prominent basketmakers and white oak tradition bearers in our Kentucky community. Partners in basketry and in life, From Many Hands illuminates the journeys, mentors, friendships, and “many hands” that aided Hester and Scott in becoming the basketmakers they are today through the lens of their forty-five year-old basket collection.

_{Informative panels, diverse baskets, and excited community members from the opening of the From Many Hands: The Hester-Gilbert Basket Story Exhibit; Kentucky White Oak Gathering, Thursday August 22nd, 2024 at the Kentucky Museum, WKU}

Lynne Furguson, a well-respected basketmaker and artist introduced the afternoon festivities, “Every year a small band of people gather together. They gather to share their love for an amazing tradition. They bring their knowledge, skills, tools and a white oak tree. They are basket makers and they gather to make, their bond is the tree.” Ferguson then gave the floor to Beth Hester, as she proudly took the stage and thanked the influential basket weavers that made her into the tradition bearer she is today. Every white oak basket weaver in the Kentucky area knows the names Beth Hester and Scott Gilbert. For many, these two are the spark that begins every young basket maker’s journey. Hester, from Scottsville, Kentucky, has been in the basketmaking world since 1975. Her mentors range from Ollie and Lestel Childress to Leona Waddell, just to name a few. Also taught by the Childress’, Gilbert from Scottsville, Kentucky began making white oak and honeysuckle baskets and marketing them at local and regional venues in 1982. In 1987, Hester and Gilbert began The Basket Maker’s Catalog, a well-regarded basket making and chair caning supply shop. From teaching classes on weaving, participation in competitions, and learning from culture bearers across the globe, it is no wonder that the Kentucky Museum is hosting such a wonderful new exhibit.

As Hester approached the podium she began, “As you visit the exhibit and read the story, you’ll discover that Scott and I have ties to white oak basket making in Kentucky, which started in the early 1980s…[we have] developed friendships and supported traditional makers. We admired their innovations, learned their stories, and found out what inspired their interest in white oak and how they specifically handled materials.”

^{Mary Ann Smith and Brent Björkman congratulate Hester and Gilbert on a brilliant exhibit, as audience members clap; Kentucky White Oak Gathering, Thursday August 22nd, 2024 at the Kentucky Museum, WKU}

For the past decade, the Kentucky Folklife Program has been involved with the White Oak Basket community in order to help promote the importance of the basket-weaving tradition. The KFP’s director, Brent Björkman has woven baskets with the makers for quite some time now, and has learned from basket-making greats such as Leona Waddell, a well-known white oak basket maker from Cub Run, Kentucky. In 2014, soon after its relocation from state government in Frankfort to join the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology,  the Kentucky Folklife Program, led by Björkman and Hester, and underwritten through an National Endowment for the arts grant,  co-curated a physical exhibit to share this regional basketmaking legacy entitle: Standing the Test of Time:  Kentucky White Oak Basket Tradition. Following this exhibit a set of traveling exhibit panels was created from the content was created to highlight Kentucky’s white oak basket making cultural traditions. These panels, that continue to travel today, display images of basketmakers, their work, and the life narratives of these artists to help contextualize this important local tradition for a wider audience. Alongside this exhibit, the KFP also received NEA funds to bring basketmakers into public library locations for hands-on demonstrations and discussion about their work. Soon, the White Oak Basket Gathering made its way to the WKU.

To learn more about the Standing the Test of Time: Kentucky White Oak Basket Tradition Traveling Exhibit and to possibly rent it out yourself, visit the Kentucky Museum’s Traveling Exhibit’s Page Here!

In 2007, Mary Ann and Bill Smith, two powerhouse basketmakers currently residing in North Carolina, began the white oak gathering with just three people in Alabama. The original layout of this gathering included splitting white oak for the entire weekend. In 2009, Mary Ann happened to take a class at Hester and Gilbert’s shop, and soon after the gathering turned into a group of five. The growth of the gathering pushed on, slow and steady, and the location of the event bounced from Alabama to Kentucky and back again. After moving to North Carolina in 2019, Mary Ann and Bill along with Hester and Gilbert agreed that the gathering could continue under the supervision of the Kentucky Folklife Program and hosted at the Kentucky Museum at Western Kentucky University.

The gathering’s themselves typically consist of one public day in which community members are able to participate in workshops, view basket-making demonstrations, and learn about the rich traditions of basket-making culture. The following two days are reserved for the basket makers themselves, as they weave together, learn from one another, and celebrate a reunion that is highly anticipated year after year. For this year’s public day titled “Meet the Makers”, basketmakers Mary Ann and Bill Smith from North Carolina (formerly Birmingham, Alabama) , Vicki Hast from Ohio County, Kentucky ,and Micah Wiles from Somerset, Kentucky participated in demonstrating white oak tree splitting, the refining of wood for the creation of splits and weavers, and the many diverse ways one can weave a basket. Shortly after Hester’s opening of her exhibit, the crowd made their way to the first floor of the museum to watch the basketmakers in action. From Bill Smith demonstrating the steps in which he breaks down trees, to Hast reminding the audience members that it is never too late to start something that you love, the passion for this artistry was evident from beginning to end. 

_{Bill Smith, Micah Wiles, Mary Ann Smith and Vicki Hast craft brilliant demonstrations of white oak basketry as excited community members get the front row seat; Kentucky White Oak Gathering, Thursday August 22nd, 2024 at the Kentucky Museum, WKU}

When interviewed by KET PBS, Mary Ann Smith mentioned her hopes in younger generations keeping the traditions alive. She concluded with, “To me, tradition is necessary. That people don’t lose touch with how their ancestors did things and what nature has to offer you, if you just look around and see.”

To watch Smith’s interview on KET PBS, click here: Kentucky Edition | White Oak Gathering | Season 3 | Episode 59

It has been a beautiful journey, witnessing the white oak basketmakers grow deep roots in the communities they have visited. Their passion and determination in keeping the tradition not only surviving, but thriving is evident in the relationships they’ve built and the footprint they’ve left at Western Kentucky University. The Kentucky Folklife Program would like to send a massive and heartfelt thank you to Beth Hester, Scott Gilbert, Lynne Ferguson, Mary Ann Smith, Bill Smith, Micah Wiles, the multitude of basket weaving hands that have made their way on the hill in years past, and the Kentucky Museum Team for helping keep such beautiful traditions alive, breathing, and oh so loved by our Kentucky community. We are excited to watch the next chapter of the white oak gathering as it continues to bloom happiness and heart in every state it visits.

• Reference Links:
  
  White Oak Gathering – KET PBS
  https://ket.org/program/kentucky-edition/white-oak-gathering/
  
  Scott Gilbert – National Basketry Organization
  https://nationalbasketry.org/enhanced-members/scott-gilbert
  
  ‘It’s alive, and it’s breathing, and it’s a really beautiful thing’: Basket makers share traditions at Kentucky Museum – WKU Herald
  https://wkuherald.com/72303/life/its-alive-and-its-breathing-and-its-a-really-beautiful-thing-basket-makers-share-traditions-at-kentucky-museum/
  
  Basket Maker’s Supply (Formerly The Basket Maker’s Catalog)
  https://basketmakerssupply.com/pages/about-us
  

-KFP-

Established in 1989, the Kentucky Folklife Program (KFP) is the Commonwealth’s statewide public folklife program, with the mission to document, present, and conserve the diverse traditional cultures and heritage of Kentucky. In 2012, the KFP moved from Frankfort to the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology at WKU.

For more information, contact KFP Folklife Specialist Camille Maria Acosta: camille.acosta@wku.edu or KFP director Brent Björkman: brent.bjorkman@wku.edu 

-KY Museum-  

Mission: The Kentucky Museum enhances the academic mission of Western Kentucky University and provides quality educational and cultural experiences for our campus and community.

Vision: The Kentucky Museum is a teaching museum with premier cultural collections utilized to complement, support, and challenge the academic experience. We also provide a gathering place for our campus and community to come to know and celebrate who they are as individuals and Kentuckians in the 21st century.

-WKU-

Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.