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It can be difficult, or in many cases even impossible, to discern and understand the reasons that craft producers learn and practice their skills. "Motivation" is a complex area that underlies the practice of craft work and the disposal (or sale or marketing) of craft products.
But it is clear that craftspersons in Kentucky learn their skills and operate their craft-producing practices for a variety of reasons, and across a spectrum of motivations...
Motivations for MAKING Crafts
Personal: artistic challenge/satisfaction from craft practice; the practice may be a "hobby" or "avocation"
Using Time: e.g., production of crafts while incarcerated.
See, for instance: C. Lee Harrington, "Time to Piddle: Death Row Incarceration, Craftswork, and the Meaning of Time," The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 27:1, 51-71 (1997) .Fame: creating or enhancing one's reputation within a community or group
Economic/financial: To make money from products; producing craft items may become a full-time "vocation" or "occupation"
Charity: To provide craft products for others
Example: Knit It Forward (Fayette Co.: Lexington)
"Creative Aging": Indiana-based folklorist Jon Kay uses this term to describe the craft work of many persons described in his important book "Folk Art and Aging: Life Story Objects and Their Makers," (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016).
Inspirational/Religious/Ministerial: To offer religious inspiration
Example: Chicken Feather Woods [carved crosses] (Lawrence Co.: Louisa)
Recovery: providing addicted or homeless persons with craft practice training and production of saleable products
Example: Appalachian Artisan Center "Culture of Recovery" Project (Knott Co.: Hindman)
Example: Culture of Recovery (Knott Co.: Hindman)
Example: Luthier Doug Naselroad & Culture of Recovery (Knott Co.: Hindman)
Motivations for SELLING Crafts
Economic/financial: to make money in support of self, family, company
The complexity of motivations in creating and selling crafts — hand-made vs. machine-made — is memorably illustrated in Harriet Arnow's award-winning 1954 novel The Dollmaker, q.v.
Ministerial: to make money in support of church or religious organization
Recovery: to motivate and provide opportunities for addicted, homeless, or otherwise troubled persons
Example: Iron Bridge Woodshop (Six Treasures Ministry - Fayette Co.: Lexington)
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