This week, we begin a series of four profiles on the Strecker family of artists with a visit to Erika Strecker, a Lexington blacksmith and sculptor who makes metal look as malleable as clay. Her functional and decorative art was seen at the 2003 Bernheim Forest exhibit “Forging in Ancient Appalachia,” held in conjunction with a Kentucky Blacksmith Association regional conference.

Our next artist is Dobree Adams, a Franklin County photographer. Also recognized as one of Kentucky’s major contemporary fiber artists, Dobree is a sheep farmer who raises her own raw material. She talks about an exhibit of her work at the Kentucky Museum of Arts + Design entitled “Dancing with Chaos: Weavings and Photographs.”

On the set, Mel talks with Kimcherie Lloyd, director of music at the Kentucky Opera, about the education program OperaWorks, which brings masterworks to middle and high school students in an accessible and exciting way. Students from the opera’s Young Artists’ Program—an intensive internship program designed to bridge the gap between study and a professional career for opera singers—perform selections from Puccini’s La Bohème.