LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The art of miniatures has a global following, and one Louisville group has been building tiny worlds for more than 50 years.
What You Need To Know
- The Louisville Miniature Club was founded in 1973
- It is a member of the National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts, and its members include many retirees
- Nancye Claypool is the group's current president
- The group regularly earns blue ribbons at the Kentucky State Fair, where several members will show their work beginning Aug. 15
What members of the Louisville Miniature Club can build is limitless.
“I lived in a condominium at one time, and that’s kind of like what it looked like,” said Nancye Claypool, club president, as she showed a living room scene. “There’s a cat on the sofa because I do like cats and dogs. It’s got some beautiful pieces in there; it’s got a painting over the fireplace.”
The Louisville Miniature Club is an official chapter of the National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts. The Louisville chapter was formed in 1973, and its current members include many retirees.
“Honestly, things like this, as you get older, it keeps your mind going, especially like using fine motor skills and your eyes,” Claypool said.
Club member Judith Riggs has been building dollhouses and miniatures for 10 years. She is also a multiple-time Kentucky State Fair blue-ribbon winner.
One of her builds is her fairy borgata, which has an aesthetic reminiscent of the 1992 animated film “Fern Gully: The Last Rain Forest.”
“That started out as a birdcage ... the jewelry is where I recycled some of my grandmother’s jewelry, costume pieces I wouldn’t wear myself, but they look great on my pieces,” Riggs said.
For many members, miniature building is strictly a hobby. For Preston Poling, it’s blossomed into a new career. Poling is known as “The Bearded Miniaturist.”
“I was on a television show in Canada called ‘Best in Miniature,’” Poling said. “I was on season two of that, and commissions started coming in, so that just became something I did.”
Poling said he performs in-home dollhouse restorations and makes custom pieces for film and commercial productions. He added scale models are used in blockbuster action films, science-fiction films and stop-motion photography.
“Oh yeah, the miniature community is huge, not just here but worldwide,” Poling said. “It’s a huge community, and it’s, really, a diverse community.”
Several members of the Louisville Miniature Club will be showing their work at the Kentucky State Fair, beginning Aug. 15.