arts & culture
ON THE BANKS OF
TROUBLESOME CREEK
T
he Appalachian School of Luthiery began with an idea and a building in Hindman, Kentucky that was along the side of Troublesome Creek. The building was ready, but it took a call from the Appalachian Artisan Center to Master Craftsman Doug Naselroad to get things started. Naselroad was asked if he would consider coming to Hindman to share his more than 40 years of luthiery experience to teach area residents to build instruments. “That was an unusual statement in a lot of ways. Just someone asking for a luthier is really unusual,” Naselroad remembered.
to Hindman to see about putting together some programs for the Artisan Center. He found that there was an underutilized infrastructure for arts education, especially woodworking, already in place. He immediately got to work. The school he put together, the Appalachian School of Luthiery, has been an incredible success. Originally envisioned as a program that would charge fees for classes, things took an unexpected turn when one particular person approached Naselroad during an event.
“This guy came up to me and said, ‘Mr. Naselroad, Intrigued by the possibilities, Naselroad drove the I need to get into your program.’ I told him to sign three hours from his home in Winchester, Kentucky up and he, said, ‘No, you don’t understand, I need to 32
christianapp.org/MtSpiritGive | FALL / WINTER 2019
