An Ancient and Global Resource
For thousands of years, gourds have served as an essential natural resource for societies around the world. They were among the first cultivated plants and have been used across nearly every continent. In fact, experts believe gourds may be the only plant to have achieved a truly global distribution in prehistoric times.
Early cultures decorated gourds by cutting, scraping, and burning designs into the surface using sharp tools or heated sticks. This method of incising and burning, now known as pyrography, is still practiced today in parts of South America. Throughout history, gourds have been used for bowls, vessels, hats, musical instruments, and a wide variety of other utilitarian purposes.
Gourds grow in an astonishing range of shapes and sizes, with shells that can vary in thickness from eggshell-thin to more than an inch thick. This diversity has made them especially attractive as both functional objects and artistic materials.
From Utility to Art
Today, gourds are widely recognized as a unique and versatile art medium. A visit to a fall craft fair anywhere in the United States will often reveal beautifully painted, carved, burned, and sculpted gourd pieces. Hard-shelled gourds have a long history of ornamental use and have been transformed into everything from bowls and masks to musical instruments such as banjos.
Although gourds can be a challenging medium to work with, skilled artists have elevated these unusual fruits into expressive works of art. The growing interest in gourd artistry led to the formation of the Gourd Society of America in 1937, founded by Sterling Pool of Rockport, Massachusetts. In 1970, the organization relocated to Ohio and was renamed the American Gourd Society.
Today, the American Gourd Society has more than 4,000 members and serves as the unifying body for 24 state chapters across the United States, including chapters in Arizona, California, Texas, New Mexico, and many others.
The American Gourd Society
The American Gourd Society (AGS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and supporting individuals interested in the culture, history, uses, and crafting of gourds. To fulfill this mission, AGS sponsors a variety of educational activities and publishes The Gourd magazine four times each year for its members.
The magazine serves as a source of information on artists, events, state chapters, books, seeds, crafting techniques, and gourd-related topics from both the United States and abroad. Through its publications and network of state chapters, AGS provides a valuable connection for gourd artists, growers, and enthusiasts worldwide.