LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) – It has been three months since a deadly tornado outbreak destroyed parts of Western Kentucky, killing more than 70 people, but Kentuckians have not lost their passion for helping with the state’s tornado disaster relief.
One project to help Western Kentucky is ‘Horse Mania,’ a partnership between Independence Bank and LexArts, where Independence Bank purchased three porcelain horse pieces, and LexArts crowdsourced local artists to design the pieces. Together, the art collaboration will raise funds for three disaster counties.
“Couple days after the tornado, a friend of mine from LexArts gave me a call and said I have this wonderful idea,” Stacy Berge, Market President of Independence Bank, said.
That’s when LexArts proposed that it would find Lexington artists by way of a drawing competition, and the drawing with the most inspirational vision would be designated to one of the three porcelain horse pieces.
“We started thinking about horses and could we get one into each community,” Maury Sparrow, Director of Communications at LexArts, said. Sparrow said the pieces are meant to bring healing to the disaster communities through the arts.
The helping hands to paint the porcelain horse pieces are high school students from each of three disaster counties, and the money the pieces are aimed to raise will rebuild important landmarks that were lost.
The three counties are Warren, Graves, and Hopkins counties.
One high school student, Kaitlyn Gilbert, said she was in the basement with her family when the tornado ripped through Dawson Springs. Now, she is painting on the horse for Hopkins county, which will rebuild the baseball and softball fields in her hometown.
“I’d like to see what we can make happen out of what could regrow, what could come back, cause we want to pay attention the beauty that’s still there,” Gilbert said.
Another high school student from Mayfield, Lily Insco, is painting on the horse for Graves County. The horse has Van Gogh-inspired artwork.
“The Starry Night, with all the wind and swirls that kind of references to the tornado,” Insco said. “The sunflowers on the legs show a bright future.”
The porcelain horse for Graves County will help rebuild the Ice House Gallery.
The third porcelain horse is for Warren County and will raise funds for the Family Resource Centers in the county’s schools.
The porcelain horse is painted Tiffany teal and designed by local artist, Lennon Michalski. Helping him is Sam Lowe, a senior at Bowling Green High School.
Lowe said this is his first time working on an art piece, but he’s invested.
“And that was actually my idea to put it on there to symbolize healing and growth and recovery,” Lowe said pointing towards a drawing of his.
Lowe explains how the horse is meant to bring energy and vibrancy to Warren County with its color and designs, “Flowers are a perfect symbol for just healing cause just looking at them is calming, it can healing of the mind. Just as the community is growing and recovering from the storm.”
The students will have finished their part Saturday evening, but the horses will eventually end up back in their hometowns.
Sparrow said the horses are meant to remind them of how they helped rebuild their community and give them joy.
“Those are the ones that are going to see this rebuild, and this rebuild is what they’re going to experience for the rest of their lives,” Sparrow said.
The porcelain horses will be finished and polished by their designated artists after the weekend, and be on display at the Breeder’s Cup of World Championship.
This December, they will be auctioned at Keeneland to commemorate LexArts’s 50th anniversary, and then will be taken to their respective counties for installation.
