All photos courtesy of Judy and Jerry Lovenstein
Jim Ford, original broom maker at the Ozark Folk Center, Judy Lovenstein and Jerry Lovenstein. Jerry was part of the first group of apprentices funded by the Committee of One Hundred.
This Ozark Folk Center 50th Anniversary Legacy Photo is in honor of the back-to-the-landers and the entrepreneurial spirit that they brought with them.
With admiration, Friends from Off
Seeking change, the Lovensteins left their Forest Service jobs in Washington State to live a simpler life. “We were drawn to Stone County, Arkansas because it is a community with strong ties to the past, when life was slower,” says Jerry.
In 1976, they and their two-year-old son, Adrian, settled on a secluded 59 acres along Grassy Creek. “We came with a Mother Earth News education in homesteading and a determination to make it here. Jobs were scarce. Seasonal waitress work at the Ozark Folk Center turned into the key to our future” recalls Judy.
Through an apprenticeship program offered at the Ozark Folk Center, Jerry learned the old fashioned hand-tying method of broom making. By late 1978, the Lovensteins established the family business, Grassy Creek Handcrafted Brooms. Ever since, the family has recreated the traditional forms influenced by the Shakers and Puritans, and handed down for generations. Continuing with tradition, their son Adrian apprenticed and at the age of nine was making his own line of miniature turkey wing brooms The legacy continues with grandson, River who was introduced to the craft when he was four.
In 1985, Jerry served as Master Artisan for a National Endowment of the Arts Folk Arts apprentice program sponsored by the Arkansas Arts Council. Jerry was honored by the Arkansas Arts Council with a 2001 Individual Artist Fellowship in Traditional Craft.
The dream of building their own homestead was successful and they still live there today. The Grassy Creek broom workshop is located on the homestead. The Lovensteins sell their brooms at craft shows across the nation, as well as in fine craft stores, some galleries, and to private collectors.
Entry by Jerry and Judy Lovenstein.
The Committee of One Hundred Tribute Wall recognizes contributions to the preservation of Ozark folk culture.
If you would like to help preserve the folk culture of the Ozarks, consider a
The Committee is made up entirely of volunteers so, except for transaction fees, all of your donation funds music, craft, or the herb gardens and, as a 501c3 entity
your donation is tax deductible!
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