Area woman honored for rug hooking
Toolbox
By Thatcher Moats Times Argus Staff - Published: May 13, 2010
MONTPELIER – An East Montpelier woman who has rug hooking and dying woven through her family history is one of two Vermonters to be honored with a 2010 Governor's Heritage Award.
Stephanie Ashworth-Krauss is the recipient of the "Outstanding Traditional Artist" award, an honor that has been bestowed on Vermont artists for the past 11 years.
Ashworth-Krauss, 55, was thrilled to be picked the winner.
"It's absolutely stunning," she said on Wednesday. "I'm quite speechless, really."
The Governor's Heritage Award, which was established by the Vermont Folklife Center and "Vermont Life" magazine, also goes to an educator.
Alice Leeds of Bristol is this year's recipient of the "Outstanding Educator" award. Leeds teaches fifth and sixth grades at the Lincoln Community School in Lincoln.
Gov. James Douglas will present the awards during a public ceremony at the Vermont Statehouse on Thursday, May 13, at 5:30 p.m.
Sadly, Ashworth-Krauss said, she won't be able to attend.
Her daughter, Mariah Krauss, is graduating from the University of Montana on Saturday. Ashworth-Krauss had already booked a flight and changing her plans would have cost a pretty penny, she said.
"It does seem that good things all come at once," Ashworth-Krauss said.
Ashworth-Krauss said her sister will accept the award and read an acceptance letter as a slideshow plays in the background.
Ashworth-Krauss learned rug hooking from her mother, Anne Ashworth, when she was 5 years old. And the family tradition goes back further: In the mid-1800s, Ashworth-Krauss' great-grandmother, Philena Moxley, created and stamped embroidery and rug patterns for sale in her dry goods store in Lowell, Mass.
Bob Hooker, who works at the Vermont Folk Life Center, said the craft must be handed down through the generations for a person to be eligible for the Governor's Heritage Award.
Anne Ashworth established the Green Mountain Rug School in 1981, and Ashworth-Krauss continues to operate the school annually at Vermont Technical College.
Ashworth-Krauss said the award is not only an accomplishment for her, but for the craft as a whole.
"There's been quite a resurgence in rug hooking," she said.
thatcher.moats@timesargus.com
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