Art Stories
Tales of inspiration and creativity, behind-the-scenes glimpses at art-making, in-depth arts features, and narrative portraits of LAL artists.
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JESSE MARK, Co-founder of CREATE 1929 – 2020 With this exhibit, we honor and celebrate the life of Jesse Mark.
I first met Jesse back in 2015 or 2016. Around that time, he had discovered the field of arts in health and it piqued his interest. Jesse lived a long life, and as such, he had a wealth of knowledge and varied experiences under his belt by the time I met him. He was a well-educated man of faith and spent a good portion of his career working in healthcare. After retiring, Jesse became much more involved in the arts. He spent seven years teaching oil painting at UK’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, served on the board and was president of the Lexington Art League and spent time as the director of the Christ Church Cathedral art program. Having worked in healthcare and spending much of his retirement engaged by and immersed in the arts, it made perfect sense that Jesse’s interests would coalesce around the field of arts in health. As he sought to learn more, he began contacting individuals and organizations in Lexington involved or working in the field of arts in health. As fate would have it, Jesse found his way to me. He expressed great interest in the work I was doing in my role as manager for the UK Arts in HealthCare program. He wondered if we could team up with other organizations and professionals in the community to build a greater awareness of the health and wellness benefits of engaging in and with the arts. Never one to shy away from an opportunity to engage my community and promote the work I do, I said, “let’s do it.” From that first meeting with Jesse, CREATE was ultimately born. Local music therapist and owner of Edge Music Therapy, Austin Robinson later joined our efforts and became our third Co-founder. Together, along with an everchanging cast of committed organizations and individuals, we were able to put on a number of visual arts exhibits that were coupled with the performing arts and educational components centered on themes related to arts in health and wellness. Beyond our work together with CREATE, Jesse became a dear friend and a man that I admired. In honor of Jesse Mark, a human being of the highest caliber, CREATE continues our mission. Though Jesse’s spirit now soars across realms unimaginable, he is with us as we continue on this Unprecedented Journey. - Jason Akhtarekhavari
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If you want to escape to a world full of fantastic landscapes and vibrant colors, look no further than J. Daniel Adkins’ paintings in Series of Expression. This exhibition showcases Adkins’ paintings and how they can transport the viewer to a new world, something many of us desire in this current moment. Many of the pieces in this show are also grouped into sets. For Adkins, this allows him to explore an idea in depth through multiple viewpoints and then display them all together.  This “new world” that we become transported to, however, is actually just enhanced visualizations of our own commonwealth. Adkins’ vibrant portrayal of the Kentucky landscape represents the love and admiration that he has for the place that he has grown up and lived in for most of his life. Living in a city like Lexington, it can be easy to forget about the absolutely beautiful scenery around us. These paintings serve as a reminder of the widespread beauty encompassing our state. Located in the Sulier Gallery at The Loudon House, J. Daniel Adkins’ Series of Expression will be on display until March 12. Adkins’ work is a treat to see in person, and we invite you to come and check it out! If you’re unable to make it, our exhibitions are also available to view online at www.lexingtonartleague.org.  Stream Crossing, 2020 Acrylic on canvas 30" x 40"Author: Josh Porter; curatorial intern for the Lexington Art League
Barbara Steinrock’s incredible sculptural talent is on full display in her exhibition Double Take. From the morbid to the sometimes comical, this exhibition showcases a wide range of Steinrock’s works that all have unique characteristics, but are united through her use of clay as a tool to explore complex issues, both social and personal.  Steinrock utilizes color as a way to set the mood for the viewer. Many of her muted pieces, such as her Loss of Habitat (2013-16) series, embrace the natural beauty of the clay to emphasize the natural beauty that is suffering due to ever increasing destruction of natural habitat. As you move on through the gallery space, Steinrock’s work begins to shift through the dichotomy of her work towards a more humorous, and colorful visual language. Her pieces like Carnivore & Veggivore (2018) and Main Course (2019) use bright colors and seemingly ridiculous imagery as a way to embrace humor to explore lighter, less dire social issues.
Looking at this show as a whole, it is clear how powerful ceramic sculpture can be as a medium. The pieces in this show are a testament to the wide range of skill that Steinrock possesses. This exhibition will be up until March 12 in the Boyer Gallery here at The Loudon House, and you don’t want to miss it! If you’re unable to make it, the exhibition is also on display online at www.lexingtonartleague.org. Author: Josh Porter; curatorial intern for the Lexington Art League
When she submitted the proposal for this exhibition in January of 2019, Marta Dorton had no idea how important the theme of human connection would be today. In her exhibition Overlay/Connection, Dorton focuses on connection as an exchange or intake of energy. To her, human connection is about the energy of the relationship that remains even if we do not see the connection, are not looking or unable to notice it. Simply put, the nature of life is connection.
Dorton’s colorful, textured mix media pieces and acrylic paintings are on full display in this exhibition. All of the walls contain framed assemblages of mixed media. Each one of these pieces is paired in the wall text with a quote from different notable people around the topic of connection. The wall text for her piece You and Me and the Sea (2018) shares the quote from Shannon L. Alder, "Soul connections are not often found and are worth every bit of fight left in you to keep." In addition to her framed mixed media pieces, Dorton also creates Books of Knowledge that are mixed media sculptures that display the quotes on the pieces themselves. Marcus Aurelius’ quote in Book of Knowledge II (2020) gives the viewer advice to “frequently consider the connection of all things in the universe.” Dorton’s exhibition provides an intimate look into the ways in which human connections are made and the energy those connections contain. This exhibition will be up until March 12 in the Zygmunt Gallery here at The Loudon House! If you’re unable to make it, the exhibition is also available online at www.lexingtonartleague.org Author: Josh Porter; curatorial intern for the Lexington Art League
The Quintessent Decade is Nesseth’s first solo exhibition in painting. For the past decade Lynn Nesseth has been working with oil pastels on plywood boards. These paintings embody the changes Nesseth went through personally, and in their art making. As Nesseth explains, they are time capsules that contain one quarter of their life. Inspired by their ongoing obsession with cut glass prisms, Nesseth’s paintings contrast the softness of the pastels and wood grain with the harshness of geometric shapes and the plywood edge.
Nesseth’s decade-long journey through painting created a strong connection between their current work and decisions they made in marks, gestures, colors years before. As you walk through the gallery space, you can see some paintings with glitter, some with no glitter, some darker paintings, somebrighter paintings, some with less geometric shapes, some with more geometric shapes, and the list goes on. It is clear looking at this exhibition that these paintings are the results of years and years of experimentation from Nesseth. We, as viewers, are able to get a glimpse of Nesseth’s quintessent decade. These paintings are a beautiful addition to the Main Hallway Gallery at The Loudon House. Nesseth’s exhibition, The Quintessent Decade, will be up until March 12 and is one that you definitely don’t want to miss. And don’t forget that the exhibition is also available for viewing online at www.lexingtonartleague.org! Author: Josh Porter, curatorial intern for the Lexington Art League
I can’t believe I’m typing this out, but we’re almost at the end of 2020! It would be an understatement to say that this has been a historic year and for local businesses and arts organizations, 2020 has been everything but easy. Here at the Art League, we’ve had to make some tough decisions, cancel a few events, and re-evaluate the ways things are normally done. But despite it all, we’re still here, we’re still adapting, and we’re still advocating for central Kentucky’s thriving arts scene. Our current exhibition, The 2020 Biennial Lexington Art League’s Members Show, is a celebration of our region’s art and artists. Curated by Assistant Director Faville Donahue, fellow intern Blake Borwig, and myself; The Member’s Show was a challenging but incredibly rewarding project to collaborate on. Months of preliminary brainstorming, planning, and writing led up to a solid week of hanging and installing artwork. We had many artists submitting work, and we were able to accept just over 120 pieces. Not a space in the house has been left empty as each room and each wall hosting several of Kentucky’s unique and individual creative voices. The diversity of the artworks exhibited reflect the diversity of our artistic community, and it was such a pleasure to place these works into conversation with each other. A wide variety of styles, mediums, and methods are represented: from expressive abstract paintings to traditional portraiture, photography and video art, to basket weaving and ceramic sculpture.
For me, one of the joys of curating this show was picking up on the passion and energy behind these works. I don’t know if it’s because this year has felt so negative or if it’s because the end-of-semester hustle has thrown me off, but something about being around these works was really uplifting. I think that the passion and love that an artist has for their practice is reflected in their artwork, and for me at least, it’s both energizing and joyful to be around that. It’s like being at a concert where the musicians are totally absorbed in their instrument, or at a performance where the dancer is really feeling a movement... the passion of one body can affect another body. Art is able to affect us in ways that are both conscious and unconscious. The care that an artist has for their work can, I believe, project from the work. So, as you can now tell, I highly recommend a visit down to the Loudon House to see The 2020 Biennial Lexington Art League’s Members Show. As we wrap up this rough year, this exhibition is a great way to transition to 2021. It’s a colorful, lively, and most of all joyful assemblage of artworks. It’s a testament to the necessity of art at a time when things seem bleak and a reminder that there’s always something to celebrate. It was such a pleasure to help put this show together, and I can’t wait for everyone to see it. The 2020 Biennial Lexington Art League’s Members Show runs November 20, 2020 to January 16, 2021. We look forward to seeing you!
Author: Aaron Reynolds
Aaron Reynolds is the curatorial intern for the Lexington Art League. He holds a bachelor’s degree in art history and visual studies from the University of Kentucky, and is now working towards an MFA in curatorial studies. We hope that everyone has a wonderful day! We are here at the house spending the day folding and stringing dragons for our 1000 Dragon Challenge community art project. You can download and print this coloring page drawn by our talented intern Aurora. Have fun, y'all!  
We’ve had a busy couple of months here at the Art League. Planning for the Northside Festival, installing new shows, hosting concerts by the Lexington Philharmonic, and getting ready for the upcoming Member’s show has kept us all scrambling to make things happen! However, that doesn’t mean that we don’t want you stopping by to say hey and check out the amazing art we’re currently showing. In fact, there’s nothing we’d like more! We have three great shows going on right now by three very different but talented artists. All three exhibits feature a wide array of artistic mediums: print, painting, sculpture, photography, and video art.  Ken Howl, American Exceptionalism, Degenerate Counterculture, and the 100 Seconds Till Midnight, September – November 2020 American Exceptionalism, Degenerate Counterculture, and the 100 Seconds Till Midnight features a series of paintings and digital works by Lexington-based artist Ken Howl. This highly charged show interrogates notions of patriotism, nationalism, and Americanism in our current moment. Howl’s work expresses the anxieties and fears that plague contemporary America using images and sounds that are as abstract as they are chaotic. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, his show is an apt illustration of everything that’s happened over the last several years.  Kristina Arnold, It’s Probably Not Contagious, 2013 Ink, graphite, cut paper, stitching 10” x 14” x 2.5” $550 Just across the hall from Howl’s show is Manifesting Presence, a group show featuring work by Kristina Arnold, Leslie Nichols, and Yvonne Petkus. This is the first time that the three artists have exhibited work as the ‘Critique Collective’; an artists’ group they started in Bowling Green six years ago. Manifesting Presence explores the ways in which we hold space: both as individuals and as groups. The show asks: what does it mean to hold space? And how do biological, psychological, historical, and social environments shape this process? The works shown in this exhibit feature a variety of different mediums, reflecting the many ways that space can be held. Arnold’s installations use cast glass, mixed fiber media, paper and ink; Nichols plays with text-based work through manual typewriters and a letterpress printing press; and Petkus makes sculptural paintings using plexiglass, mylar, panel, and canvas.  Leslie Nichols, Siobhan (Parliament 1882), 2016. Typewritten ink on paper 16” x 16” $800  Yvonne Petkus, Tensile/Release, 2020. Oil on canvas 42" x 42" x 2" $4,400 And finally, Being in the Land is on view in the Neal Sulier Gallery. Featuring a series of photographic artworks by artist Robyn Moore; Being in the Land visually expresses the intangible and inaccessible forces that dwell within our world. Using two distinct processes, pinhole photography and photopolymer gravure, Moore explores how the Land carries within it a biological and historical significance that is immaterial but present. In the small gallery adjacent to the Neal Sulier, Moore is also showing work from a related series called Embodied Knowledge. This series develops and expands on the ideas that undergird Being in the Land. These works reflect on ‘embodiment’: the philosophical/psychological theory that knowledge is something that we experience through our physical body. Knowledge is, as the name implies, embodied. Together, Being in the Land and Embodied Knowledges reflect on the unseen forces within nature that effect and shape us in ways that we often don’t recognize.  Robyn Moore, Osprey Nest, Chesapeake Bay VA), 2016 Archival pigment print from 4x5 inch pinhole negative 16” x 20” $800 These three shows, though quite different from one another, offer an exciting and fascinating juxtaposition. I think that, together, these shows ask us (maybe even force us) to consider our relationship to the world(s) we’re enmeshed in. Howl’s show confronts us with the anxiety and discomfort of many Americans at this time. We’re forced to consider (even feel) the oppressive forces that the governing authorities inflict on people every day. Manifesting Presence explores the revolutionary potential of presence and shows us the many ways that it is expressed. Finally, Moore’s work contemplates the ways that presence can be embodied and the ways in which we embody forces larger than ourselves.
American Exceptionalism, Degenerate Counterculture, and the 100 Seconds Till Midnight, Manifesting Presence, and Being in the Land are on view at the Loudon House until November 6. We encourage you to stop in and see them or take a virtual tour of the exhibitions. These can be found at http://www.lexingtonartleague.org/current.html. Author: Aaron Reynolds Aaron Reynolds is the curatorial intern for the Lexington Art League. He holds a bachelor’s degree in art history and visual studies from the University of Kentucky, and is now working towards an MFA in curatorial studies.  Herself Exhibition Photo One of the interesting parts about programming and curating a gallery space is facilitating conversations: between both people and artworks. In the gallery space, works of art not only respond to and inform each other of their meaning, but exhibitions do the same. Our experience of an exhibition is marked by what we have seen and what we will see. Curating recognizes that no art object and no art space exists in a vacuum. Simultaneous art shows don’t always have to complement each other, but they should enhance each other. Last week, the Lexington Art League closed two major shows: Herself and Unsought Discoveries. In Herself, we saw how 17 different artists explored female experiences from multiple perspectives and dimensions. A series of sculptures, paintings, and multi-media art pieces examined the various and complex ways in which the feminine experience is embodied. In Unsought Discoveries, we saw artist Benjamin MacKethan explore the materiality and possibility of woods and ceramics. MacKethan demonstrated how art objects are the result of a collaboration between the artist’s aims and a medium’s limits.  Ben MacKethan "Ascension" When I was reflecting on these shows this week, I was thinking about the Feminist theories course I’m currently taking. At the beginning of this course, we focused on Standpoint Theory:
the idea that an individual’s perspectives are shaped by their social and political experiences. Standpoint Theory recognize that each point of view is unique and multifaced; informed by a person’s class, race, sex, gender expression, and ability. No two points of view can ever be the same, meaning that every point of view is an essential and necessary part of a broad understand of the world. From a Feminist perspective, Standpoint Theory recognizes that women’s experiences, while traditionally de-valued, are vital. It proposes that women, because of their historical oppression within a patriarchal system, are better equipped to understand the system. Herself amplified women’s experiences and showed how each woman’s experience is uniquely embodied. Unsought Discoveries showed how the creation process is defined by conscious and unconscious actions. In my experience, both shows reflected who we are as individuals. Each of us is the unique result of a negotiation between our own desires, our own limits, and the visible and invisible systems we’re enmeshed in. Because of this, each of us (but especially women and the historically marginalized) have perspectives that can and must be heard. Addendum: After writing this, I started to reflect on the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. As I think about the necessity of women’s perspectives, I am grateful for people like Ruth Bader Ginsberg who demonstrated that justice for women means justice for everyone. As a champion for women’s rights, she showed how listening to the experiences of those historically marginalized is vital for a just society. Author: Aaron Reynolds Aaron Reynolds is the curatorial intern for the Lexington Art League. He holds a bachelor’s degree in art history and visual studies from the University of Kentucky, and is now working towards an MFA in curatorial studies.  Photo Owned By, Faville Donahue
Greetings everyone! My name is Faville Donahue and I am the new Assistant Director with the Lexington Art League. I officially joined the staff this May after having been an intern with the League last fall during my final semester of graduate school. My road to the Loudoun House and the Art League was certainly not a straight line and was not where I thought I would be when I was 20 years old and jumping around majors in undergrad. I grew up in Salvisa Kentucky with two parents who instilled a life-long love of the arts and I cannot tell you how many hours I spent putting odd little things together in my father’s woodshop. When I first started college at the University of Kentucky in 2001 I wanted to get an art degree, then I thought that I would pursue forestry, then biology, and then I just wasn’t sure so I was undeclared. No matter what, I was always taking art classes. Then life intervened and I had to leave school without having finished a degree. But, things have a way of working out. It took three rounds of undergrad (and 16 years) and I finally finished a degree in sculpture. I found that I just was not going to be happy doing anything else and that the arts are where I am meant to be. Most of my personal artwork is made from various metals and I typically utilize forging, fabrication, and foundry techniques to make what I envision. I also like to work with leather, weaving, and laser-cut wood when I want to work with materials that do not require that I set things on fire. Though, I really do like working with fire. Funnily enough, my father (the woodworker) has always been bummed that I fell in love with metal working as he has a beautifully equipped woodshop that I have very little use for. Anyways, as soon as I finished my bachelor’s degree I applied to the Arts Administration graduate program at UK and, despite my less than stellar major-hopping transcript, I was accepted and graduated summa cum laude in December 2019. It is my greatest desire to further the arts in Kentucky and to be the best advocate that I can. I love working with the Art League and I am glad to be a part of Art for Everyone! Other fun tidbits: I love science fiction (Star Trek is the BEST), my son is named after one of my favorite sci-fi authors, I live way out in the country with a veggie garden and lots of flowers, we have two dogs (a 1 ½ year old english setter and a geriatric walker coon hound), we also have two lazy cats, I got married last fall and it has been a blast so far, I love making spaghetti sauce from scratch, I recently fell into the black-hole that is Animal Crossing, I have a house full of spider plants that are all from one plant that I bought about 18 years ago for my first apartment, and we have more books than fit on our bookshelves. Author: Faville Donahue Assistant Director of the Lexington Art League |
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All Lexington Art League programs are made possible through the generous support of LexArts. LexArts allocation of $50,000 represents the largest single donation to the operations of the Lexington Art League.
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The Kentucky Arts Council, a state arts agency, provides operating support to the Lexington Art League with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by Lexington Parks & Recreation.
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