Since 2014 the Lexington Art League has been dedicated to archiving and preserving each exhibition that is hosted. Links are available below for each documented exhibit. It is through the monetary support of our donors that we are able to continue providing this archival service.

Please support our efforts with a one-time donation.

February

Ginnie Baer - Gateway to Somewhere  
​Feb 13 - March 27
The paintings in this exhibition are inspired by my love of the west/southwest, like Oklahoma’s wide-open spaces or New Mexico’s high desert. The paintings are abstracted, often to a high degree, and have hints of representational imagery – cliffs, bridges, trees, etc. Together, the abstraction and representation form imagined spaces, allowing for a respite from reality… a gateway to some other land. The abstraction allows for expression of my own experiences-- with loss, grief, and chronic illness while also enabling the work to be more open to interpretation and the viewer’s own experiences.

Jack Girard - Canines, Collages, and Bowling Pins
​Feb 13 - Apr 3
This exhibition features a broad and humorous selection of new
works, to include two installations, and several large-scale paintings and collages. Central to the show is a 15' x 10’ mixed-media wall piece, executed in very loose collaboration with four rescue dogs over a two-year period. Jack Girard is a professor emeritus at Transylvania University, where he taught painting, drawing, and occasional travel-based courses to Ireland and New York City. His work is included in many public and private collections, and has been exhibited extensively in this country and abroad. See more of Jack's work at jackgirard.com

Arden Barnes - Feral & Familiar: An Intimate Record of Companionship, Co-Habitation, and the Paradox of Living with Cats.
Feb 13 - Apr 3
This collection of photographs is an intimate record of the life I share with my partner and our two cats, Sprout and Domino, capturing the humor, chaos, and tenderness that fill our household. As a long-time photojournalist, I wanted the challenge of turning the camera inward and was inspired by artists who have photographed their beloved companions. Cats are wild creatures who, through history and instinct, have lured us into offering them shelter and love. My cats remind me of this daily, with our relationship often existing in the space between companionship and co-habitation. See more of Arden's work at ardenbarnes.com

Sam Greenwell - One Man's Trash
Feb 13 - Apr 3
This exhibit will be made up of large-scale sculptures made of cardboard and other recycled materials. I build the underlying structure out of cardboard and hot glue and then use various painting techniques to get the desired surface texture. Most of the time I'm going for an old metal sort of finish. Most of the sculptures portray animals and architectural elements intertwined.

Jonathan Jonathan - Surreal Lexington 2025: A Year in Photos
Feb 13 - March 27
Jonathan Jonathan, a true American surrealist, presents Surreal Lexington 2025!!: A 250th birthday party in pictures.

Working exclusively in multiple exposure in-camera large format photography, each image stacks light and time until Lexington becomes a dream you can walk through — equal parts myth, memory, and mischief. Jonathan’s mission statement, “beauty everywhere; for everyone,” pulses through the work, inviting all to see their city and fall in love!!!! These are not just photographs but illuminations — humor and tenderness double-exposed into pure feeling. Come see a vision of Lexington that’s less about taking pictures, and more about pictures taking you. See more of Jonathan's work at jonathanjonathan.com
December, 2025 - January, 2026
Dec 12 - Jan 30, 2026  |  The Nude Biennial  A showcase of the nude human form in contemporary art. Additional details about this year's show are forthcoming. 
October - November, 2025
October 10 - November 22

PRHBTN began in 2011 and is now responsible for facilitating over 40 major murals by artists from all over the world, and covering some of Lexington’s most prominent walls. The annual exhibition has taken pride in being known for a no-holds-bar ethos which has resulted in displaying some of the most provocative artwork in the city each year. This exhibition is still the best opportunity for Kentucky artists of all disciplines to present artworks regardless of age, experience, media, discipline, or subject matter.
July - September, 2025
July 18 - September 26  |  Castlewood Story is a look into the history of the Loudoun House and the Castlewood neighborhood. The exhibition will feature contemporary and historical artworks, information about the House and neighborhood, oral histories, and en plein air artworks made during sessions to be held during spring and summer of 2025.

​The call is currently open and closes on May 12th
July 18 - September 26  |  Our House is a group show of all Loudoun House Studio Artists, Lexington Art League Artists in Residence, staff, and board. Come see who we are and what we do!
June - July, 2025

Darryl Halbrooks - 
Buster and Joey at Mare Serentinatis
​May 23 - July 11

Acrylic and epoxy paintings on Plexiglas, often based on Russian or Early Renaissance Icons. Many are concerned with the travels of a Dr. Sagan, and his two cat buddies, Buster and Joey as well as the occasional guest.

Boris Zakić
Le Roman de Silence: The Illuminated Manuscript Paintings
May 23 - July 11

The Silence Scriptorium 2025 - Experience a fresh take on the 13th-century romance, Le Roman de Silence. Brought to life by Boris Zakić and his artistic team of scribes and illuminators, the exhibition chronicles the story of Silence, a revolutionary hero(ine), navigating her identity while disguised as a boy. With themes of gender formulation and social constructs of identity, this engaging exhibition offers a contemporary reflection on timeless issues. It showcases large hand-painted panels in the original Picard French calligraphy, with scenes, patterns and fanciful decoration embellished in blue and gold. Don't miss this beautifully crafted celebration of medieval manuscript art!

Cathy Vigor - Raised Surfaces-Forms and Textures from Nature
May 30 - July 11

Exploring the natural world provides me with an amazing amount of inspiration for creating my felt  pieces. I enjoy time out of doors whether in my backyard, hiking in the woods, strolling by a creek, enjoying a lake or ocean or leisurely walking around my neighborhood. I collect sticks and stones, seed pods, insect wings, leaves, feathers, and other objects I find. I consider these gifts from nature. I take numerous photos on my walking adventures. Lichens, mushrooms, tree bark, native flowers are among my favorite subjects. I look at the minutiae of the items I collect to explore their forms and textures.

Madison Kelley - Canon
​May 30 - July 11

This show will feature a series of paintings addressing enduring tropes surrounding women's representation in visual culture, noting the ever-changing labels created in reference to their bodies and sexuality. Inspired by the theatrics of neoclassicism and the illustrative qualities of erotic art, Kelley inserts vintage eroticism and other undervalued artistic movements into the canon of art history. Through whimsical patterns and surreal concepts, this series rejects the inherent sexualization of the nude form, tackling issues surrounding bodily autonomy, agency, and censorship in the digital age.

Cynthia Ryan Kelly - Someday This Will Be Illegal
May 30 - July 11

It is no secret that things must change in order to minimize the effects that humans have brought upon.  The plastic experiment, the fossil fuels experiment, to just get started, are way out of balance with nature.  If humans are still dominant in 200 years, certainly these ways of operation will be illegal and hopefully obsolete.  This series is a range of fantastical images that are carbon capture machines, that will clean up the mess we’ve made. Maybe even spark a viewer to conjure up a solution.
April - May, 2025

Jacob Wachal - Nagdamgo Ako Ani
​Mar 28 - May 16
Nagdamgo Ako Ani is a visual record of my continual longing for a sense of belonging as a "third culture kid" in the American South. I am interested in reconciling an innate desire for visual storytelling as a mode of preserving the cultural traditions and values of my family while operating within a societal context that has been marred by the ideals of Western colonialism and imperialism. Growing up exposed to violent and erotic photographic portrayals of Filipinos housed in archives such as those found in the Library of Congress, I seek to subvert the traditional expectations of the medium to portray a vision, both authentic and romanticized, of the lived experiences of the third culture kid. This is a kind of bittersweet and cathartic upbringing, defined by the act of creating a home and pouring love into a place that can be both saccharine and, at times, hostile to your existence.

Lina Tharsing, Liz Swanson, Georgia Henkel - 
​Axis Mundi
Mar 28 - May 16​
The axis mundi is broadly defined as a line of connection between heavily and earthly realms.  Stretching from the hidden depths of the earth’s interior, across the horizon and into the sky above, the axis mundi encompasses a triad of distinct strata that share a common thread: their existence as cosmic realities manifesting spiritual wonder. 

While each of us freely roams the full breadth of this cosmic territory, we also stake our respective claims in diverse and unique ways.  It is this difference we seek to celebrate as way of expressing our shared belief in the endless vantage points for seeing and being in the world.

Connie Tucker - WaterWorks
Apr 4 - May 23​
The beauty and richness of flowers, landscapes, and still-life compositions have always captivated me, providing a wealth of subjects to explore artistically. This exhibit presents a range of watercolor techniques that reflect my dedication to these themes. I believe my passion for such subjects is integral to creating compelling compositions, as I experiment with various materials, theoretical approaches, and techniques, from spontaneous gestures to intricate detail.​

My artistic journey often involves an exploration of my immediate surroundings and neighboring regions, capturing subtle changes in the landscape. In addition, I arrange still-life compositions of objects with personal significance, carefully adjusting their arrangement and lighting to craft compositions of depth and intrigue. Through this process, I aspire to create watercolors that convey an atmosphere of wonder and spirit, inviting viewers to share in the sense of discovery that fuels my work.

Robby Varillas - The Untold Benefits of Brushing and Flossing
Apr 4 - May 23
​The Untold Benefits of Brushing and Flossing shows you just how different your life could be if you brushed twice a day and flossed once a day. This is a show about everything that happens just outside of view and just outside of reach. It is a series of animations and zines that explore analogue and digital interaction through dreamlike vignettes that emphasize atmosphere, texture, and experimental techniques.

Tony Wavy - Matters of the Heart
Apr 4 - May 23
They say home is where the heart is. Welcome to my humble abode. As an artist, I have often found myself entangled in the pursuit of creating masterpieces that conform to specific niches or cater to particular audiences, whether for commercial success or recognition. This endeavor sometimes leads to producing works that do not resonate with my true self. Reflecting on my upbringing, I recall a time devoid of constraints—just me and the freedom to create whatever my heart desired. I believe that this unbridled creativity represents the purest form of artistic expression, where creation stems from the heart, unburdened by the mind’s overthinking. The heart accomplishes what the mind cannot fathom.
February - March, 2025

Rey Gonzalez - Savage Rising
Feb 7 - Mar 21​

Savage Rising is an unapologetic expression of sexuality with an emphasis on counter-culture style.  This exhibit will feature dark and sultry images of people empowered by their own body and by the passions they find and experience with others.  
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The very word, “Savage,” was originally used to describe people who gave in to their carnal desires and engaged in what was often considered immoral.  It is a word often used to describe hedonistic behavior.  It is a word to describe that which brings about feelings we are not sure we should be having… or enjoying.  This exhibition is an embrace of carnality and of the term, Savage.

Susan Deaton - The Mind's Eye
​Feb 7 - Mar 28

My drawings tell stories about the deeper things that dwell beneath the words and actions of living. There are residual feelings and ideas I have given life to in my drawings. My images are delightfully dark and hold meanings for not only me but you, enjoy the journey.

Jason Scroggin - 
​Massimals: League
Feb 7 - Mar 21

Massimals: League presents large design fabrications by Jason Scroggin. Each object is a variation on the Massimals project, abstractions of animal forms built in the manner of architectural study models. These large “models” are exercises in material and assembly methods presented in the form of lumbering polar bears. On display are the Stair Bears, incorporating stair elements into their formal typology intended for use, and the Rainbow Legion demonstrating a transformation of color as you move around and through the herd.

Erin Miller, SK O’Brien, Lisa Kriner - Reconstructing the Sense of Self
​Feb 7 - Mar 28

The fiber-based art of SK, Lisa, and Erin explores the embodied female experience surrounding the processes of disruptive change. SK’s work explores redefining the sense of self that is challenged when medical treatment mutilates the body. Lisa's woven tapestries explore the changes in a woman’s body during menopause (naturally and medically induced) with a particular interest in hot flashes and their extremes. Erin’s work explores the tumultuousness of girlhood to womanhood, and the external causes of a fractured internal self as a result. Together their work engages both the range of experiences and the threads that connect them.

Guleus E’Xavier - Maroon
Feb 7 - Mar 28

In my journey from childhood to adulthood, the color maroon has held a mysterious and profound significance in my life. Its allure transcends mere aesthetics, hinting at a deeper connection that resonates with my being on a spiritual, historical, and cultural level. Though not always visibly present in my attire, maroon has quietly woven itself into the fabric of my identity, becoming an unspoken emblem of my existence and freedom in this human experience.
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Maroon is not just a color for me. it aligns as portal to a realm where personal history, cultural heritage, and artistic expression converge. This exhibition serves as a visual exploration of the profound influence that a seemingly simple hue can wield over one's sense of self and reality, inviting viewers to join me on a journey of discovery and introspection through the captivating lens of this powerful hue.
dECEMBER, 2024 - jANUARY, 2025
The Lexington Art League Members’ Biennial  is a biennial exhibition of art that has been created by our members. Every two years we take the opportunity to highlight our creative and talented members with an exhibition which takes over all of the exhibition space in the historic Loudoun House. The League was founded in 1957 as a member-driven organization and we are continuing this tradition more than 65 years later. If you are a member and you make art, this is your chance to share it with all of us. The goal is to stuff the galleries to the gunwales with art in a celebration of our creative members.
oCTOBER - nOVEMBER, 2024
PRHBTN 13  |  October 11 - November 22   PRHBTN began in 2011 and is now responsible for facilitating over 40 major murals by artists from all over the world, and covering some of Lexington’s most prominent walls. The annual exhibition has taken pride in being known for a no-holds-bar ethos which has resulted in displaying some of the most provocative artwork in the city each year. This exhibition is still the best opportunity for Kentucky artists of all disciplines to present artworks regardless of age, experience, media, discipline, or subject matter. ​
August - September, 2024
the artist ATB  |  Souled: HOMECOMING  |  September 25 - 27  HOMECOMING, a three-day exhibition from September 25-27, showcases the lifelong conceptual art project SOULED by the artist ATB.

SOULED is released in WAVES of 12 identical silkscreen prints called WORKS. Each time one sells, the next doubles in value. However, any prints unsold after 12 days are burned to ash, reducing the number of surviving WORKS.

​The show culminates in an opening event for WAVE 11 on Friday, September 27, from 7 to 11 PM. Attendees will explore the evolution of SOULED through multiple galleries and have an exclusive opportunity to participate in the latest WAVE before it opens to the public at 11 PM. The first WORK in WAVE 11 is valued at $11 and the 12th at $22,528. This event features a cash bar and music.

August 2024

Dobree Adams and Jonathan Greene | Visions in Tandem Works in Fiber / Works on Paper | August 2 -September 20    A collaborative retrospective exhibition that considers dialogues of vision and voice  in the spirit of haiga, the Japanese tradition of painting with haiku. The art of haiga  is about the synergy of collaboration, the richness and depth of an added layer of  meaning each work brings to the other. We will consider how poems, tapestries, and  photographs are related, and how seemingly unrelated works influence or redefine  one another.  

Jamie Green  |  Expressions in Wood  |  July 26 - September 20     Jamie's work explores the balance between artistry and nature. Working in a variety of wood species, he creates abstract sculptures that balance form and flow. His work lacks symbolic representation, leaving the viewer to feel and interpret the artwork themselves.

Jennifer Dunham  |  The Mysteries  |  July 26 - September 20   Library card catalog cards are a thing of the past, but contain interesting information that can act as muse.  For Jen Dunham's mixed media art, they act as the canvas and the book titles the inspiration for each scene that is beautifully rendered upon them.  Each piece, created using pen and inks, colored pencil, soft  pastels and watercolor pens is part of one of two series; "The Night Kitchen Mysteries" or "The Alice Mysteries".  What is the mystery and is there an answer? Study each piece closely and find out for yourself!

Kim Comstock  |  Pairs  |  July 26-September 20    Traditionally, serious portraiture has been used to document or elevate someone’s position, or to preserve the cherished image of a loved one. But with a double portrait, the dynamic shifts- now the painting is about a relationship, rather than about a single person. It is much more intimate and ephemeral. This exhibit explores the relationships between pairs- siblings, lovers, friends, and the implicit third person in the room, the artist.

Matt Lingerfelt | Unscripted Expressions | July 26-September 20  My approach to art usually doesn’t involve pre-planning. Rarely will I begin with canvas or paper and a predetermined idea. Creating for me generally just happens. It can start by a random shape or color and it will build from there. When someone asks “what is it supposed to be?”, I generally respond, “What do you see?”. For me, art is personal and it can reflect emotion or thoughts which can be influence by a multitude of things. Each piece is a good representation of me in a period of time. Honestly, they’re a little part of who I am.
June - July, 2024

June 2024

Ann Dawkins  |  Feeling is a Skill  |May 31 - July 19      Feeling is a Skill, uses personal narrative surrounding pain, illness, and trauma to connect to universal human vulnerabilities. With the language of thick oil paint, Ann Dawkins describes exposed, neglected, and partially consumed fruit as a representation of the fragile and uncontrollable physicality of the body. Playing close attention to the historical connection of fruit to the perception of women, their sins, sexuality, and ability to produce life, Dawkins’ paintings explore both objectification and physical dysfunction.

Visit Ann's website, www.anndawkins.com

Graham Allen  |  Untold Tales of Untamed Tension  |  June 7 - July 26    Originally from Indianapolis, Graham Allen has been a Graphic Designer, Artist, and Muralist in Kentucky for 25 years. While melding textures, scattered collage and ‘weathered character’ often seen in found objects and ‘ghost signs’ (old hand-painted advertising, often preserved on buildings and barns), his more recent body of work is inspired by urban arts and pop-culture as well as nostalgia and early advertising. Built using combinations of acrylic, wood, stencils, earth, markers as well as both found references and original characters, his unique narratives include witty typography and ‘gritty’ compositions loosely influenced by concepts dealing with today’s social landscapes as well as humorous and thought provoking, self-made scenarios. 

Nick Walters  |  Time Is Irrelevant  |  May 31 - July 19  Centuries pass and technologies come and go, but the elements of the human experience remain. The time period in which one lives does not change our basic wants and needs. People will always be searching for love, lust, entertainment, adventure, friendship, and happiness. My paintings are based on found photos from different periods and seek to display the core of the human spirit no matter what point in history the subject resided.

Shaena Neal  | I Dreamt We Spoke Again  |  May 31 - July 19     After suffering a loss, we often experience phases of grief, finally reaching a point of memorialization. However, how do we cope with and orient ourselves when living through a drawn-out process of losing? The series featured in this exhibition, I dreamt we spoke again, examines the struggle with an ongoing loss through the staging of plant portraits. Though ecological uncertainty and environmental disorientation are the predominant motivations for these photographs, a broader questioning of grief, desire, and its impacts on identity are presented. The human form interacts with these dying flowers in a reactionary (self-modeled) performance to this seemingly inevitable loss. The peripheral human presence and portrayed plant life mutually reveal and obscure each other, blurring the boundaries between the self and the shifting landscape.

Visit Shaena's website, www.shaenaneal.com 

Sonja A. Brooks + Anne B. Brooks  |  Brooks + Brooks: Sum of the Parts  |   June 7 - July 26    Brooks + Brooks: Sum of the Parts features new collage work by two artist/art educators who formed a friendship 17 years ago. Anne Brooks, an avid gardener, collects organic shapes which she draws, paints and assembles onto boards or canvas. Sonja Brooks assembles realistic and abstract works from layered bits and pieces, including postage stamps, old book pages, discarded art projects, hand painted and handmade papers, images from children’s books and vintage ephemera.
April - May, 2024

April 2024

Brian Connors Manke | For Crayon Out Loud |  April 12 - May 31
For Brian Connors Manke, crayons are simply the medium that he never grew out of. He still loves to color pages in a coloring book, but for the last 17 years he's been melting and manipulating those childhood favorites into his modern artistic visions. Sometimes he is drawn to trance-like lines and patterns, while other times his approach embraces the chaos of constantly being outside those lines.
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Visit Brian's website, brianconnorsmanke.com.

Gary Hansen + Liz Hansen  |  As Found  |  April 5 - May 24  Found objects that are neglected, abused, repurposed, or abandoned tell stories. Their condition and location tell stories of changing tastes and of the people who owned, used, or left them in the situations where we found them. As photographers, both artists’ work captures these objects “as found” without manipulation.

J.H. Leigh  |  Shapes, Stick Figures and Color  |  April 12 - May 31    The first intention of these works is to lead the viewer to discover the figure in the arrangement of lines and shapes on the canvas, but, as more canvases were painted, characters began to emerge fully assembled in simple narratives. It is hoped these artworks will spark a memory or, at least, the recognition of the emotion in the scenario on the canvas. Purposefully, the composition is kept simple and the shapes, lines and color are allowed to set the scene.

Reagan Profit  |  If You Lie With Me  |  April 5 - May 24   If You Lie With Me is a collection of nude paintings that create environments of emotion—Power, Ease, Discomfort, Peace, Innocence. Through moments of abstraction and moments of clarity, Profit’s work explores human experiences of loneliness and connection and the dynamic between these concepts. These paintings draw on the history of the reclining nude and the ways this type of figurative art has evolved throughout art history. The painting process is integral to the work, through many layers of paint the artist “shapes” and then “destroys” the figure until the final image is revealed.

Visit Reagan's website, www.reaganprofit.com.

Teresa Koester  |  Gaia's Sentinels  |  April 5 - May 24   In 2023, Louisville artist Teresa Koester received an Artist Enrichment Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women to create a new body of watercolor landscape paintings, depicting the most sacred or meaningful places held by women she interviewed who steward large tracts of public or private land—be it as a farmer, land manager, scientist, forester or private landowner in Kentucky. The project grew as Teresa asked the first group of land stewards she contacted to then recommend additional women they thought should be included. Each painting will remain in the hands of the land steward who inspired it at the end of this traveling exhibit.
FEBRUARY - APRIL, 2024
Leen Katrib  |  Reparations: The Other Mies Archive  |  Feb 9 - Mar 29  
​This ongoing subversive archival project re-examines the history of modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s design for the Illinois Institute of Technology’s postwar campus expansion, which led to the strategic erasure of a primarily Black neighborhood in Chicago’s South Side. Conceived as an archival apparatus, the installation deconstructs the official campus history and complicates the architect’s legacy, which rarely diverges from a discussion about form and architectural ideology, by inviting visitors to peek into the material record that was necessarily suppressed to create the myth of a tabula rasa created by an architect intent on creating an “apolitical” architecture in the name of progress

Learn more about Leen by visiting her website:  www.Leenkatrib.com
John D'Orazio  |  Prismatic  |  Feb 9 - Apr 5   Each of the paintings in the "Prismatic" series is intended to highlight the physical beauty that results when a prism refracts light into the visible color spectrum.  I’ve tried to combine the beauty of a rainbow, which has long been a symbol of hope, with the ordered accuracy of mathematics.  Just as rainbows appear in the sky after violent weather, these canvases can remind us that hope and optimism exist even amidst life's storms.  Within each of us lies the ability to paint our own prisms of resilience, joy, and hope.

Learn more about John by visiting his website:  jadartstudio.com
Bobbi Stout  |  Cast of Colors  |  Feb 9 - Apr 5   Surrounded by the difficulties and complexities of modern life, Lexington artist Bobbi Stout chose to step back from seriousness for a while to create this playful, imaginative collection.  Populated by clear, bright colors and whimsical characters, this group of images is intended to be humorous, joyful and poignant.  While a few of the paintings were consciously planned, most of them were more spontaneous, coming fresh from the artist’s thoughts to the canvas.  The use of colorful and cartoon-like images creates a simple, two-dimensional world where feelings are clear and transparent, and everything is readily visible. 
It is the artist’s hope that those viewing her work will have as much fun looking at the art as she did in creating it.
Claire Thompson |  EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER DREAMED OF AND MORE  |  Feb 9 - Mar 29    EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER DREAMED OF AND MORE is a show about true love. It's a show about slaying a dragon. It's a show about growing up. It's a show about extra ranch on the side. It's a show about humiliation. It's a show about hellfire. It’s a show about paradise. It's a show about you. It's a show about everything you could ever even dream of. And even more.

Learn more about Claire by visiting her website:  ClaireThompsonArt.com
Lexington Senior Center  |  The Bell House Painters  |  Feb 9 - Mar 29  
Paintings displayed here are from a senior citizens’ class held weekly at the Bell House in Lexington. They represent all levels of experience in either acrylics or oils. Part of the pleasure of painting is an opportunity to exhibit one’s work and we appreciate the chance to have this gently juried showing sponsored by the Lexington Art League.
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The Bell House is a satellite center of the Lexington Senior Center. It is free and open to independent Fayette County residents 60 years and older.

Learn more about Lexington Senior Center here:  https://www.lexingtonky.gov/lexington-senior-center​
December, 2023 - January, 2024

December 2023

The Nude Biennial  |  December 8 - January 26, 2024   The Lexington Art League has hosted ‘The Nude’ annual exhibition for most of the past 35 years. It has grown to be one of the most anticipated annual exhibitions in Lexington. With the redefining and a return to its founding mission, to ‘create opportunities for Lexington area artists and those who appreciate their work,’ the Lexington Art League is proud to present The Nude as a biennial showcasing contemporary nude figurative art by Kentucky artists.
October - December, 2023

October 2023

PRHBTN 12  | October 20 - December 1    
PRHBTN began in 2011 and is now responsible for facilitating over 40 major murals by artists from all over the world, and covering some of Lexington’s most prominent walls. The annual exhibition has taken pride in being known for a no-holds-bar ethos which has resulted in displaying some of the most provocative artwork in the city each year. This exhibition is still the best opportunity for Kentucky artists of all disciplines to present artworks regardless of age, experience, media, discipline, or subject matter.
September- October, 2023

September 2023
Lexington Camera Club - Conjure  ​|  presented as part of the Louisville Photo Biennial  |  September 1 - October 13   Comprised of 150+ photographs by 38 photographers young and old, film and digital, amateur and professional, who share the conviction that anytime you trip the shutter you trip the light fantastic, summoning up a practical magic with sleight of hand and eye. Manifested visions transform light/place/person/animal/thing into two-dimensional talismans to consecrate the natural world and its inhabitants.

Special guest artists: the Community Inspired Lexington students and longtime National Geographic photographer Sam Abell, and Bill Roughen, who created and taught the first art photography classes at UK in the late 1960s.
July - August, 2023

July 2023

​Kellene Turner  | An Airy Atmospheric Perspective | June 23 - August 18   This is a series of works that are intentional interpretations of cloudscapes. Playful sprays of dramatic light are seen or lost within canvases, leading through multiple layers of opaque color to darker analogous points. Be it dawn or dusk, the sky brings about the hope and promise of a new day. Materials specifically in this series have been salvaged, mended, and redesigned to highlight the mood of my compositions.


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Elmer Lopez + Cameron McAfee  | Dynamite |  June 23 - August 18  You may feel like you are the same person today as you were yesterday or even the same person now as you were a moment ago, but this is not so.
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Every experience adds to your personality and changes you either slightly or significantly. This is true also in the art-making process. Every day we created these pieces we would approach the same canvas or drawing with a new perspective or approach. It is a compounding effect and every moment a new spark of consciousness changes the recipe that is us.
Todd Cote  | Daughters We Never Had | June 30 - August 18
My wife and I are blessed with two sons but often reflect on what it would have been like to have a daughter. This personal, collective work of oil paintings on linen are imaginary portraits of daughters we never had. My long-time work in Ireland along with my Irish maternal heritage has given me a close connection to the Irish land, culture, and people. These portraits are placed in Irish landscapes, from a parent’s perspective, to directly or metaphorically depict strength and resilience, fragility, identity, spirituality and growth.
Christine Huskisson  | Thresholds | June 30 - August 18  
Thresholds: Drawing and Painting from Life   I paint observational portraits in pastels, acrylics and oils. By painting thin layers of gestural marks to describe the features of my live sitters, I am exploring the line between the material and spiritual referred to in “Spirit/Matter: Threshold of the Immaterial, Encounter in Contemporary Art” by Ellie Hodgin. I strive to see the elusive qualities of a more capricious interior world where we share many things in common. I aim to reveal the value of viewing these thresholds as passages or ‘thin places’ of access to what unites us.
Jonathan McFadden  | Winner Winner V3.0 |  June 30 - August 18  ​In Rene Girard's theory of mimetic desire, individuals imitate the desires and behaviors of others in order to achieve social recognition and success, much like the popular phrase "winner winner chicken dinner" implies. Mimetic desire suggests that individuals often desire what others desire, leading to competition and imitation as they strive to attain the same goals and rewards. Similarly, in the context of Sequence-based identifiers in software, the phrase can be connected through the concept of winning or achieving a unique identifier or sequence, where individuals may imitate successful software implementations or strive to create their own "winning" identifier sequences to stand out in the field.
May - JUne, 2023

May 2023

Damon Farmer  |  Joyride  |  May 6 - June 16  These paintings reflect my interest in things mechanical, whimsical and fantastical.  Creating and sharing images of implausible activities or conveyances of dubious practicality is a joyful experience for me. The title, JOYRIDE, was chosen to express the desire that a tour of these narrative illustrations of an imagined reality would also spark a little joy in the viewers.
Haley Younce  | Unmade  |  May 13 - June 23   Unmade is a series of prints inspired by the investigation of coping mechanisms throughout my mental health journey. Since adolescence, the bed has been a consistent means for an escape from my own thoughts and a fortress in which I surround myself to feel relief from everyday life. This exhibition is a public confession of personal, vulnerable, and intimate moments that allow the viewer to identify with the work through shared experiences. For me, creating this body of work is and continues to be a cathartic act while simultaneously facilitating a conversation of perseverance and hope through mental illness. ​
Kevin Nance  |  Dreamscapes  |  May 6 - June 16​  In Dreamscapes, Kevin Nance explores the spaces between reality and dreams. Using long exposures, reflections, and various forms of distortion (caused by movement, weather and other phenomena), these photographs conjure alternate dimensions that exist just outside our normal ways of seeing. These are the worlds we glimpse in peripheral vision, at the far edges of consciousness, and on the way in and out of sleep. 
Nancy Ternasky | Paint, Plants and Play | May 13 - June 23   Nancy Ternasky is a California native who now considers Lexington, KY her home.  She is a watercolor artists whose clean, illustrative style reflect her love of nature, botanicals and still life.
Joanne Hope Skiles Couch, Jeffrey S. Couch, & Phillip Manga | Bluegrass Transplants: Refugee Edition, Exhibition & Fashion Show  | May 13 - June 23  "A refugee is someone who survived and who can create the future." Amela Koluder
The refugee experience is filled with heartache, fear, and uncertainty.  But it is also filled with hope, and an unquenchable desire to build anew from the ashes.  This latest iteration of Bluegrass Transplants is partnering with Philip Manga's nonprofit Box2Box, the successful refugee mentorship program that helps young refugees and their families adjust to life in their new home here in the Bluegrass. The exhibition explores our refugee communities: foreign, domestic, and indigenous by taking the students artwork and incorporating it into fashion apparel that will be on display throughout the exhibition as well as presented in a fashion show. Money from items sold during the exhibition will help fund the Box2Box mission.
March - May, 2023

March 2023

Horse Sense  |  March 10 - April 29   We all know what everyone thinks of when they think of Kentucky; the horse of course! Horses and horse racing have been a big part of the Bluegrass and life in Kentucky for over 200 years with Lexington right at the beating heart of it all. The Lexington Art League invites all artists of all types  to submit their horse and horse racing related artwork to our spring group.
Nico Lund  | \Fault/LINES | March 17 - May 6  \Fault/LINES is a multidisciplinary exhibition that contemplates the unexpected shifts and unpredictable circumstances that can clear the way for transformative experiences. The development of this body of work has been a years-long meditation on my own personal evolution and growth. Finding fissures in self-confidence and re-directing any displaced fears that have been the result of perceived inadequacies or societal liabilities. All together, the work included in \Fault/LINES is intended to act as a container to hold space to meditate on one’s own ability to sit with discomfort, and explorations into the purpose of creative expression, the importance of place and identity and the transience of time in the evolution of human experience.​
Melanie Elizabeth Landsittle  | Pit-ter-pat-ter | March 17 - May 13  Through weaving tapestries and making books, I have been thinking about the expression of value for maintenance of life as magic of life. The way we experience, commune with and enjoy daily quotidian upkeep, which is often dismissed by the western hyper capitalism which we inhabit. I think of activities like transiting (commuting - walking, taking public transportation… etc.), collecting or growing food, eating, cleaning. This work is a reflection on the textures, sounds, colors and movements of those activities, their necessity, and emotionality. Each individual book or tapestry is a revisitation of these moments, slowly built up through repetitive labor and memorialized. ​
Raymond Papka  | Remains to be Seen  | March 17 - May 6   Raymond Papka’s exhibition is full of “Remains to be Seen”, a collection of art employing abstraction, found objects, assemblage, collage and transformation to tickle the mind's imagination! His artwork is made from a wide variety of found objects and imagery; his objects are often remnants of items gathered from flea markets, yard sales, books, antique shops, trash dumps, or sometimes literally found on the ground that are repurposed to fit with a story found in each art piece. He draws inspiration from the history, science & astronomy, mysticism, art history, Victorian ephemera, books/text, and industrial decay (i.e. just about anything old and rusty). His work blends elements of the everyday with the extraordinary and each piece invites the viewer into its own world, by mysteries, messages, memories or whimsical turns.
Michelle Newby Armstrong  |  Back Yard Secrets | March 17 - May 6  The pollinator garden and the plants and animals in my backyard in Kenwick have been a constant source of inspiration to me. And each of these living organisms have secrets that have been revealed to me slowly. For example, mushrooms are one of the few organisms that can thrive after an oil spill and sunflowers can assist in absorbing nuclear waste. Flies that we usually consider to be horrible pests, are pollinators and contribute to our supply of chocolate. Some people believe that crows are evil, but in reality they are very smart and will bring gifts to people who work to build a relationship with them. ​In this exhibit, I plan to use a variety of media to create the plants and animals I have observed in my backyard. I will share some of their secrets with the hope that others will learn about their value and strive to protect these organisms instead of destroying them or hurting them as is often the case​
Shaena Neal  |  Touching Ground | March 17 - May 13  Touching Ground explores environmental entanglement. A 35mm film camera in hand, Shaena seeks the intangible borders between the natural and artificial within our lived experience. This series of black-&-white prints examine the impact photographic imagery has on our sense of place historically and individually. As we witness gradual and sudden changes in our immediate surroundings, how do we orient ourselves? By engaging the (dis)connections of nature and the human touch, this project questions how we interact with contemporary landscapes. Touching Ground exposes symbolic margins where environment and civilization blur.
January - March, 2023

January 2023

Bluegrass Printmakers - Matrix Revealed| January 20 - March 10  Printmaking is an often overlooked and misunderstood medium. It is not as straightforward as painting or as accessible as photography. Printmaking is a process of transferring an image from a matrix onto another surface. Printmaking is not a singular method as there are many techniques for creating images and many types of plates and substrates. From self-taught to master-level printmakers, Bluegrass Printmakers members work with collagraph, woodcut, linoleum cut, monoprint, lithograph, etching, and screen printing, among others, and often combine techniques.
Interface: Technology and Portraiture - curated by Sydney Mullins  |  January 20 - March 10  This exhibit investigates the multifaceted relationship between the human face, art, and technology. Through an inquiry-based critique of artificial intelligence and facial recognition software, this exhibit will present both the creative possibilities of digitally assisted portraiture and question these technologies’ more insidious uses. It will critique the neutrality of AI, the growing pervasiveness of facial recognition software, and other forms of digital monitoring. Participating artists - Chris Nelson, John Harlan Norris, Siavash Tohidi, Charles Dillon Ward, and Amy M. Young
Hannah Allen - In the Field |  January 20 - March 10  The culture of craft in Kentucky has been cultivated from generations of women sharing their practices with others. This exhibit will explore the history of textile art and reimagine the teachings of Home Demonstration Agents from a modern perspective. Between the scarcity of goods caused by the global pandemic and efforts to minimize waste in light of environmental changes, fiber consumption is at a turning point. The exhibit will explore different facets of fiber art and crafting, using the Commonwealth of Kentucky as both the source of inspiration and source of materials.
Ben LaFever - Psychopomp  |  January 20 - March 3  These paintings are a meditation on the dynamics of opposites; mystery and certainty, death and life, and force and receptivity. I am interested in visualizing the patterns of meaning that emerge from these polarities, and the liminal spaces that exist between them. A Psychopomp is the ultimate liminal being. It is a guide of souls to the place of the dead, a go-between of life and death, the known and unknown. 
Debra Booker - Buried Treasures: Abstract Collage for the Here and Now |  January 20 - March 3  Vintage treasures i.e.- magazines, encyclopedias, dictionaries and photos, are getting harder to find in our fast paced, digital, throw-away world. Incorporating these finds gives us a glimpse into our collective past, our shared societal histories, our passions, our dreams. We can look at our layers of humanity and reflect on our past and the present, and where we might be going.
November, 2022 - January, 2023
The Lexington Art League Members’ Biennial  is a biennial exhibition of art that has been created by our members. Every two years we take the opportunity to highlight our creative and talented members with an exhibition which takes over all of the exhibition space in the historic Loudoun House. The League was founded in 1957 as a member-driven organization and we are continuing this tradition 65 years later. The goal is to stuff the galleries to the gunwales with art in a celebration of our creative members.
October, 2022
PRHBTN 11
A Group Exhibition

This exhibition is known for a no-holds-bar ethos which has resulted in displaying some of the most provocative artwork in the city each year. It is one of the best opportunities for Kentucky artists of all disciplines to present artworks regardless of age, experience, media, discipline, or subject matter.
August - September, 2022
July - August, 2022
Hands Down
Isaac Couch
Collect (PenGame Vol. 1)
Bryce Oquaye   a.k.a. Madhundreds
Carried by Wind
Mikey Winsor
American Excess
​Stephanie Roberts
June - July, 2022
Sculpture from Within
Julie Warren Conn​
On the Origin of Spirit
Joshua Wetherington
Amethyst Forest
The Luminous Offering
Ryan Morris
Sanctuary
Steph Barker
April - June, 2022
March - April, 2022
Myths, Legends and Lore
Honora Jacob
Fiber Focus
Fiber Guild of Lexington
January - March, 2022
November, 2021 - January 2022
The Nude Biennial
​A Group Exhibition
October - November, 2021
PRHBTN X
Group Exhibition
September - October, 2021
AUGUST - SEPTEMBER, 2021
Intuitions
Debra Kay Guess
Self Preservation: A Beautiful Cry
Infamous JeanClaude
imprints, mutations
Sara Arthur-Paratley
BadAss
Todd Fife
JUNE - JULY, 2021
​Idols, Demons, and Deities
​Bradley A. Wilder
Central Kentucky Gothic
​Esther E. Randall
Portraits of Us
​Reed Godot​
MAY - JUNE, 2021
Infiniteness & Insignificance
Shawn Marshall
Pandemia and Memento Mori
Melissa T. Hall, Artist
Missy Brownson, Poet
Well
Shane Allen Smith
Melange
The Lexington Fiber Guild
Pandemic Still Life
The Muzineum
MARCH - APRIL, 2021
From the earliest known forms of human creativity and expression, such as paintings on cave walls, tribal dance and aboriginal music played around the fire, to expansive museums in large cities, modern dance and sold out stadium concerts, one constant has always remained true. Human beings have always found creativity and expression to be central to our very existence.
JANUARY - MARCH, 2021

Double Take - Barbara Steinrock
Boyer Gallery    January 29th - March 12, 2021

The Quintessent Decade - Lynn Nesseth
Main Hallway Gallery     January 29th - March 12, 2021

Overlay/Connection - Marta Dorton
Location: Zygmunt Gallery     January 29th - March 12, 2021

Series of Expression - J Daniel Adkins
Sulier Gallery     January 29th - March 12, 2021
November 2020 - January 2021
September - November 2020
Yvonne Petkus, Kristina Arnold, and Leslie Nichols
Manifesting Presence
Main Hallway and Z-Galleries
July - September 2020
Herself - A Group Exhibition
Boyer Gallery
Benjamin Mackethan
Unsought Discoveries
Sulier Gallery
Dalphna Donnelly
Seeking Joy, Color Dances
Main Hallway and Z-Galleries
January - February 2020
Sarah Madison Brown 
Show Me The Way to Go Home
Upstairs Gallery
Josh Doss 
I Dreamed in Black and White
Upstairs Hallway Gallery
Lori Larusso 
Like
Boyer Gallery
Christina Conroy
Dark Exposure
Sulier Gallery
Mark Williams
Karst
Main Hallway Gallery
Holly Graham 
New Life Doll Project
Z-Gallery
October - December 2019
September - October 2019
July - August 2019
May - June 2019
March - April 2019
January - March 2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014

Castlewood Downs
A Sculptural Exhibition​

 July 2017 - July 2019
castlewood_downs_info_document.pdf
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Isaac Duncan
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