Photos courtesy of Pennsylvania Gourd Society
For members of the Pennsylvania Gourd Society, gourds aren’t just for making Halloween jack-o’-lanterns.
Instead, the nonprofit organization embraces many varieties of gourds to make different types of art, including pyrography (think wood-burning), painting, carving, jewelry making and more.
“To me, (gourds are) a canvas,” said society president Claudia Hill, of Saylorsburg, Monroe County. “There’s chip carving using a hand gouge or power carver; you can make baskets out of them, you can bead them.”
Hill said that the state Gourd Society doesn’t really have a central location or a physical office. Instead, its roughly 1,940 members, hailing from across Pennsylvania, converge annually at the PA Gourd Fest featuring classes, workshops and competitions.
This year’s event, which was held in June at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center and Fairgrounds, attracted a crowd of around 300.
The society is hosting a 2023 fall member retreat later this month at Cherry Ridge Campground & Lodging in Honesdale, Wayne County. This event involves guest instructors, a team-building activity, gourd wreath challenge and more.
According to its website, the society’s mission is “promoting the use of gourds in Pennsylvania, growing different varieties, and using them in artistic and functional craft by providing a supportive and educational environment for our members and the community.”
Members also sell their gourd art at local craft shows and serve as PGS volunteers in their communities through educational visits to schools, garden clubs and similar venues.
“Our purpose is to educate people about gourds,” stated vice president Mariellen Hittner of Bethlehem Township in Northampton County. “It’s not about only crafting. It’s also about growing.”
The gourd society was started in 2003 with Hittner as a founding member. However, she credits another founder, Jenn Avery, of Lititz, as “the one who really started with gourds.”
“I became interested in doing gourds after seeing them in a craft store and found Jen online,” Hittner said. “I was painting animals on rocks before that.”
The society is just one of 24 state chapters that comprise the American Gourd Society, founded in Rockport, Mass., in 1932, according to the national organization’s website. North Carolina became the first chartered chapter in 1943. Today, the national nonprofit is based in Ohio.
The first domesticated bottle gourds, researchers suggest, were used by prehistoric people and sent to the Americas from Asia roughly 10,000 years ago, according to the AGS.
Records of gourd art first appeared in history books from China’s Ming Dynasty, which ran from 1368 to 1644. Records from this time trace the art back to the Tang Dynasty running from 618 to 907.
“Historically, a lot of different cultures have made musical instruments from gourds,” Hill said. “With a snake gourd, you can make drums or pianos. Other gourds are so small, you can make earrings out of them. People also make children’s push toys, like ducks, out of gourds.”
The PGS began holding its annual festival in 2007 at a Lancaster County farm, but it was later moved to the Lebanon Expo Center due to the farm’s space limitations as the event grew.
“It required a lot of work by the farmer to get ready,” Hill said. “A lot of the time, we needed electric setups for the wood burners, and so on. Once people realized what you can do with a hard-shell gourd, they’re interested.”
She said that she gives away “a lot” of her completed projects, while others are sold or placed in gallery shows. Crafting her pieces takes anywhere from “a few hours to several weeks,” depending on size and detail, she said.
Working with gourds has its unique challenges, since the art medium is a large, fleshy fruit. Cleaning and cutting them can be difficult and tedious, Hittner said. What does she like most?
“The creative part, of picking up a gourd and saying ‘I can do that,’” she said. “It’s very relaxing.”
For information about the Pennsylvania Gourd Society, visit www.pagourdsociety.org.
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