Jefferson County gets $10,000 grant to fund artisan database

Brandi Baldwin, Madison Courier Staff Writer

Jefferson County, partnering with six other counties, was awarded a $10,000 Indiana Artisan Trail Development Grant, which will allow the counties to work together to gather information about local artisans to help promote tourism.

The database will be turned into a book that tourists can use to locate by name or medium the artist they wish to view or buy from.

"It provides an opportunity for Jefferson County to leverage one of its strengths, and that's the arts," said Corey Murphy, executive director of the Economic Development Partners of Jefferson County.

It will also provide a forum for artisans to market their wares, Murphy said.

Jefferson County will work with Dearborn, Jackson, Jennings, Franklin, Ripley and Decatur counties to create the "By Hoosier Hands in Southeastern Indiana" database, which will focus on handcrafted offerings including art, wineries and confectioneries.

"They will be able to see where all of the art is in those seven counties," said Linda Lytle, executive director of the Madison Visitors Center. "I think when we get done, we'll have so many artisans that we'll be surprised."

Currently, Madison has information on 30 artisans. The information is posted on the Madison Visitors Center Web site at www.visitmadison.org.

Lytle said she believes there could be as many as 100 artisans in Jefferson County.

"A lot of our great artisans are in rural areas," Lytle said.

Lytle said the book should be completed by March 2010 to help kick off the tourism season.

The book will be available in art galleries, bookstores and visitor centers in the counties.

The idea for using a book as a trail guide came from the Homegrown Handmade: Art Roads and Farm Trails of North Carolina trail where several books have been produced showing trails people can follow through the mountains and other places in the state. Lytle said the books have been a success there and have helped artisan's businesses.

"It's really a big hit," Lytle said. "We thought instead of reinventing the wheel, we would take something proven to work."

Once this project is completed, Lytle said she would like to get other grants to enhance the trail by having events and artisan signings.