Kentucky Handcrafted Treasures

Arts & Crafts Shopping In Kentucky

Beginning with the earliest days of English settlement, handicrafts have been a beloved art form in the Bluegrass State. While many Kentucky arts and crafts are rooted in tradition, others are on the cutting edge of contemporary art. You can find it all on your visit, and even bring home a piece or two as a gift or souvenir.

Berea, known as the Folk Arts & Crafts Capital of Kentucky, is home to a thriving community of artisans with shops and studios scattered throughout town. The city’s craft heritage is tied to historic Berea College, the first integrated and coeducational college in the South. Paducah, home to the National Quilt Museum and Lower Town Arts District, has been designated a UNESCO Creative City, one of only nine in the United States. Inspiration awaits visitors to this city’s many vibrant galleries and workshops.

The Kentucky Artisan Center, Appalachian Artisan Center and KMAC Museum all display and sell works of hundreds of Kentucky artisans. Kentucky Arts Council maintains directories of Kentucky Crafted Artists and Retailers that have met the Council’s criteria of artistic excellence and professionalism as judged by independent panels of arts professionals. Plus, handcrafted wares are the centerpiece of many festivals throughout the Commonwealth, large and small.

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Delightfully Spooky Kentucky

State Wide

For those who love spooky stories and experiences, Kentucky has plenty of paranormal destinations all over the Commonwealth.

The Eastern Kentucky Appalachians are just brimming with tales of haunted coal camps. Eerie and abandoned mines, like Blue Heron Mine in McCreary County, offer not only a chance to see what life was like for miners and their families, but also to learn about local folklore. In addition to year-round tours, every October visitors can attend Blue Heron Ghost Mine and listen to spine-tingling stories about the mines, hills and hollows in the region.

Want to take in some nature with your ghost stories? Don’t pass up on Lovers Leap at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, where in the 1950s a newlywed bride, still in her wedding dress, fell 80 feet into the Cumberland River and was swept over the falls, never to be seen again. Over the decades since, many visitors have reported seeing a beautiful woman in a white wedding dress wandering the area around the falls.

Owensboro, situated just down the Ohio River from Louisville, is a city that is home to more than a few eerie happenings. Schedule a Haunts of Owensboro walking tour and listen to chilling accounts of inexplicable footsteps in empty rooms, lights and faucets turning on and off on their own and ghostly figures appearing in doorways and windows.

Paramount Arts Center is home to a mischievous specter affectionately known as "Paramount Joe"

In Ashland you will find the Paramount Arts Center, a thriving theater and event venue. However, according to local legend, in 1931 a workman, “Paramount Joe”, died in the theater while it was still under construction, and his spirit still haunts the premises. Since his demise, theater employees say Joe is known to show up in hallways, cause cold drafts, and make items around the playhouse disappear.

Regardless of the time of year, Kentucky is the perfect place to find hair-raising, pulse quickening things to see and do. For more spooky trip inspiration, look up Kentucky After Dark. Visitors may plan their route through 21 paranormal destinations spread throughout the Bluegrass, and Kentucky After Dark Passports are available at each of the locations.

Author Information

Ben Mackin

Ben Mackin is a communications specialist for the Kentucky Department of Tourism. Before joining KDT, Ben worked as a staff writer and freelancer for a number of publications including the Vicksburg Post, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily and the State Journal in Frankfort.

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