Minnie Adkins Day

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Sharon Boggs

Minnie Adkins Day

Elliott County Kentucky’s Minnie Adkins Day

July 15, 2023 8:00am to 4:00pm

Little Sandy Lodge, 1916 N. KY 7 & 32

Sandy Hook, KY 4117

Elliott County’s Minnie Adkins Day is ready to go again. We want to invite everyone to come to one of the biggest and best folk-art festivals in eastern Kentucky. It is an outdoor festival held at Little Sandy Lodge in Sandy Hook, Kentucky on July 15, 2023.

Minnie Adkins Day started in July of 2014 as a way to honor our local resident folk artist Minnie Adkins and her contributions to Elliott County, Kentucky. It is a local arts and crafts market with music, entertainment, fun, and food. It gives us the chance to honor someone who has done so much for our county and people in general.

Minnie Adkins is one of the best-known folk woodcarving artists in Kentucky. She is adept at creating animal carvings and has given generous assistance to her various neighbors to help them in developing art careers of their own. Minnie is known for her red foxes, bears, possums, tigers, and roosters. Her figures are smoothly carved and painted, and the animal faces are distinctive. Minnie also carves and paints scenes from the Bible, but overall, her favorite subjects are animals.

To many in Kentucky, the twig roosters carved by Minnie Adkins are synonymous with the term “folk art.” She taught herself to carve as a child, and it was not until 1987 that she realized that others might be interested in buying her work. Not only were others interested, but the demand was so high that her husband, Garland Linville Adkins, began carving as well. Together the two artists created some of the most sought-after folk art in the country.

Although Garland passed away in 1997, Minnie Adkins continued to create a diverse range of art, including pottery. In 1999 she married Herman Peters, and almost immediately inspired him to become an artist as well! Peters made giant iron roosters, among other things. After Herman’s death on June 6, 2008, Minnie again continued to create her folk art now assisted by her grandson, Greg Adkins, and her son Mike Adkins.

She has been featured in short documentary films, videos, and many publications. In the late 1980s, Minnie and Garland founded “A Day in the Country”, a folk-art fair that featured works by over 50 folk artists from Kentucky and many other states. The American Folk Art Museum, The Smithsonian, The National Gallery of Art and many more collect Minnie’s work. Many critics consider her one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. Minnie continues to carve her iconic figures and collaborate with author, Mike Norris, on his children's books. Her home county, Elliott, has designated the 3rd Saturday in July as a day to honor and celebrate its own resident Folk Artist.

If you have never visited you are welcome to join us for one of the biggest folk-art festivals in Eastern Kentucky, Elliott County’s Minnie Adkins Day. Always held the third Saturday of July, Minnie Adkins Day will be filled with lots of art, both folk and fine, traditional heritage inspired crafts, food, music, and loads of fun. The spaces for Vendor setup are still just $10 and are open to artists and crafts persons from everywhere. There is no admission for guests to get in. So just come on in to look, shop, and just visit with us for a while.

For more information visit littlesandylodge.com or call us at 606-738-5515 or you can check the Minnie Adkins page on Facebook.