By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Amanda Lewis has a vision of bringing together creative people from across the region while preserving our regional folk traditions. Lewis started the non-profit Trillium Project with the express purpose of making it easier for these creative individuals to create. Lewis is building what she calls a “Creative Campus,” or a Maker and Workforce Hub for the tri-state area. The goal is to bring together artists, craftsmen, and the keepers of Appalachian traditions and help them do what they do best.
The Trillium Project is designed to help, among others, creators who want paid opportunities to teach their crafts to those who wish to learn them. Lewis wants to give creators access to makers markets and exhibitions, provide a shared fabrication infrastructure, and encourage apprenticeship partnerships and opportunities. And in the process Trillium hopes to foster expanded tourism visibility and small business growth support for creative businesses.
“We’re specifically calling for makers in Boyd, Carter, and Greenup Counties, so we can map a regional maker ecosystem and better understand what support local makers actually need to make a living on their craft,” Lewis said of her goals and how she hopes to impact the region.
“I founded an arts and culture nonprofit in Southern Ohio in 2020,” Lewis continued. “And our primary focus has been creative place making projects that give local artists paid opportunities to do their crafts and stay here and make a living doing it. We have been doing that for the last six years, and now we are moving into the next phase of development.”
That next phase is a capital project, Lewis said. And as part of that project, she is trying to connect with all of the makers and creators in the area, not just in southern Ohio. Currently Lewis is located in Portsmouth, Ohio, but she said Trillium operates remotely rather than having a brick-and-mortar facility. The capital project will be headquartered in Portsmouth, she said, but her focus will be the entire region.
The campus Lewis is working on building is intended to be what she calls multi-disciplinary.
“It will have space for artists in the traditional sense like painters and print makers,” Lewis said. “But we are also looking at building out spaces for things like blacksmithing, stained glass making, and basket weaving. We want to codesign a campus that’s not just for the traditional workshops but also where we can train people locally in creative enterprise so they can, if they are so inclined, open creative businesses.”
One creative business Lewis used for an example was a business making and frames such as those for paintings and prints.
“We don’t really have a business like that locally,” Lewis said. “If you want a picture framed then you have to go to a big store such as Hobby Lobby. But we want to be able to create pathways for individuals who might be interested in doing something like that and build small businesses around that.”
Lewis said the campus is going to serve as a regional revitalization model and will impact the entire region.
“We have partnerships in multiple states,” she said.
West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky are all represented, Lewis said, and the hope is that by codeveloping workforce pathways with regional makers she will be able to begin supporting smaller rural communities.
Currently Trillium has half a dozen local partnerships, including FIVCO.
“They (FIVCO) are working with us and have agreed to guide us with the workforce pathways for individuals in Kentucky,” Lewis said.
Lewis also has partners in Portsmouth and the Scioto Visitors Bureau.
“We have also spoken with Shawnee State University about developing some micro credentialing programs,” Lewis said.
On the horizon for the Trillium Project is an event called A Gathering of Appalachian Makers that will be held on March 24, 2026, at the Shawnee State University Kricker Innovation Hub, located at 221 Chillicothe Street in Portsmouth, Ohio, from 5 to 8 pm. Those wishing to attend are encouraged to RSVP by March 18.
“This is the first of several gatherings we are planning,” Lewis said.
She said the plan over the next nine months is to have numerous events in West Virginia and Kentucky. Creatives and makers are encouraged to visit their website, email the Trillium project, or even call 740-352-4498 to discover the possibilities available to makers and craftsmen.
More information on The Trillium Project can be found at http://www.trillium-project.org/thehollow.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
