Birth Dates of Notable Kentuckians: March 13, 1934 - Minnie Adkins

Image from Kentucky Craft History & Education Association

From Wikipedia

(Accessed March 13, 2018)

Minnie Adkins (born March 13, 1934) is an American folk artist.

Life and work

Minnie Adkins is a Kentucky folk artist known for her painted wood carvings of animals – roosters, red foxes, bears, possums, and horses. She was born, 1934, in Isonville, a small town in rural Eastern Kentucky. While a young child, she was attracted to whittling wooden sticks. Her father gave her a pocketknife and she soon took up a hobby practiced mostly by boys and men. In 1968, Adkins, her husband Garland, and their son moved, like many families in Appalachia, to Ohio in search of jobs. Homesick, she continued to carve animals and sold her work at local outdoor markets. Returning to Kentucky in 1983, she began selling her carvings at a craft gallery in Morehead, Kentucky where it was noticed by folk art dealer Larry Hackley who introduced the art work to collectors and galleries outside Kentucky. In 1985, several of her works were included in the collection of the Kentucky Folk Art Center,^[1] and is now in many permanent private and public collections.^[2] Atkins is featured in a short documentary film^[3] and many publications^[4] [5] .^[6] In the late 1980s, Minnie and Garland founded A Day in the Country,^[7] a folk art fair that today features works by over 50 folk artists from Kentucky and nine other states. She continues to carve her iconic figures and collaborate on children's books^[8] [9] with Kentucky musician and author Mike Norris. 

Books

• Lampell, Ramona and Lampell, Millard. O, Appalachia: Artists of the Southern Mountains Morley, New York : Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1989. ISBN 1556700989.
• Ludwig, Kelly. Detour Art: Outsider, Folk Art and Visionary Environments Coast to Coast Kansas City, Missouri: Kansas City Star Books, 2007. ISBN 978-1-933466-42-2.

Permanent collections

• American Folk Art Museum, NYC, NY
• Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
• National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
• Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV
• Kentucky Folk Art Center, Morehead State University, Morehead, KY
• Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, North Carolina

References

1. "Minnie Adkins". Morehead State University :: KY Folk Art Center. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
2. "Folk Art". Huntington, WV: Huntington Museum of Art. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
3. "Minnie Adkins: Portrait of a Folk Artist". 2004. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
4. Swain, Adrian (1999). "When I Win the Doctor Thing: Minnie Adkins". The Folk Art Society of America. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
5. Genocchio, Benjamin (19 February 2009). "The Art of Outsiders, Imaginative and Inspiring". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
6. Congdon, Kristin G.; Hallmark, Kara Kelley (19 March 2012). American Folk Art: A Regional Reference. ABC-CLIO. pp. 125–127. ISBN 9780313349362.
7. "A Day In The Country Folk Art Fair". Morehead State University :: KY Folk Art Center. 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
8. Adkins, Minnie; Norris, Mike; Campbell, John (1997). Bright blue rooster (down on the farm). OCLC 38373578.
9. Norris, Mike; Adkins, Minnie (2013). Sonny the monkey. Morley, MO: Acclaim Press. ISBN 9781938905070. OCLC 810273546.

Selected Sources from UK Libraries:

Bright blue rooster : down on the farm

Special Collections Research Center   SCRC Cataloging   PS3614.O772 B75 2012b

Bloom where you are planted

Special Collections Research Center   019 Closed Stacks   CT236 .A35 1999 Section 6-Shelf 3-Tray 3

Four folk artists Minnie Adkins, LaVon Williams, Tim Lewis, and Ronald & Jessie Cooper

Fine Arts Library Media Center DVD855

AND

Young Library Closed Media Stacks - Ask at Media Library Desk in B-67 Young Library AV-D6660