Baker Hunt Art + Cultural Center
photography by Madeleine Hordinski
Covington, Kentucky — After the deaths of her daughter and husband in the late 1800s, Margaretta Baker-Hunt, along with her niece, Kate Scudder, built a family of community. In 1922, Margaretta established the Baker Hunt Foundation for “the promotion of Education, Art, Science, Psychic Research and Religion.” The campus, which includes Baker Hunt Mansion, Scudder House, an auditorium, and a multimedia art studio, today serves an art and culinary school offering classes, workshops, and performances.
In keeping with Margaretta’s vision, Baker Hunt is open to all. Visitors may stop by to explore the museum and grounds, and children, adults, and couples can take classes and workshops in everything from cooking, ceramics, and painting to photography, sewing, and yoga.
A new teaching kitchen, part of a $1.8 million renovation, opened in the Scudder House in 2020. Chef Alex Noel, kitchen education director and outreach coordinator, along with a team of instructors, offers classes in how to cook myriad dishes, including pasta, tamales, sushi, and croissants. While polishing stainless steel workstations in preparation for a class, chef Kara Fairfield says the large wall of windows overlooking the grounds creates a beautiful snow globe effect. Many ingredients, such as figs and kale, come from Baker Hunt’s onsite garden, which is tended by community volunteers. There’s even a beehive on the rooftop, cared for by Charity Rust-Jordan, learner experience and marketing manager and ceramics teacher.
Margaretta and Kate’s found family has only grown, with generations of community members learning from and supporting a foundation that has enriched the lives of many for 100-plus years.
Baker Hunt Art and Cultural Center
620 Greenup St., Covington, KY
859.431.0020
Kara is a freelance writer and editor, a managing editor at Lost Art Press, and a contributing editor at Writer’s Digest magazine. She lives with her family in Fort Thomas, KY. You can read more of her work at PleiadesBee.com.
