In January, Cortney Moses, Whitley County’s Fine Arts Agent, was contacted by Berea Tourism’s Writer and Arts Consultant. She was in desperate need of a seasoned basket artist who would be willing to teach a class at Berea’s annual Festival of LearnShops. Cortney has attended the festival for two years and participated in many of the classes. The festival is well organized and the classes are of high-art nature and the teaching artist are well qualified in their profession.

Cortney knew just the person. Since working at the Whitley County Extension office, Cortney has had the pleasure of working with, Jane, a very talented professional basket artist. Jane was a former professor and is involved in the community through volunteer work. Her passion for baskets and teaching led her to the Fine Arts Extension office. Jane understands that basketry is a dying art and her mission is to keep the art form alive “even if it kills her” she says. She has taught hundreds of basket classes, basket demonstrations, and basket work-days for Whitley County citizens of all ages.

Cortney connected Jane with the coordinator for the Berea LearnShops and worked closely with them to work out the details. For seven months, Cortney helped Jane with registration, illustrating her talents in a biography, submitting professional pictures of the basket for the class, creation of a class profile and schedule, and predicting supplies and materials needed for the class. Jane reported that because of this opportunity she has increased her knowledge about baskets through basket research, developed a new basket pattern for the class, and prepared and designed detailed instructions for constructing the basket. Once the class is finished Cortney will work with Jane to review evaluations and use them to improve basket classes in the future.