GENEVIEVE WILSON, Bookmobile Day at the Country Store, UK HealthCare Collection

Kentucky Folk: Art from the UK HealthCare Collection will premiere an exciting group of over 80 folk art figures and sculptures, paintings and canes by Kentucky folk artists, ranging in date from 1970s to the present. The works depict both everyday life and spiritual beliefs, with whimsy and pathos. There is a whisky still, a witch, snakes and dogs, street signs and a pack peddler.

Some of the state’s best loved artists are represented, among them Minnie Adkins, known for her sculptures of elegant horses and colorful chickens, Edgar Tolson, who frequently depicts Adam and Eve, and Lavon Williams, who creates dynamic, rhythmic sculptures of African-American life.

This will be the first exhibition of the collection, which was assembled to be part of the new Arts In HealthCare program at UK Hospital. Many of these objects will be displayed in the new Health Education Center of the hospital when construction is completed.

These whimsical sculptures, hand-crafted walking sticks and evocative paintings were selected for the UK HealthCare Collection by curator Adrian Swain and director, Matt Collinsworth of the Kentucky Folk Art Center. Collinsworth said of the project, “It has been an honor to assist UK HealthCare in assembling this wonderful collection of works by many of Kentucky’s finest folk artists. The exhibition at The Art Museum will stand as a fine survey of this most intriguing aspect of our state’s cultural heritage.”

Don't miss the August 5th Art@Noon lecture with Matt Collinsworth and educators will want to sign up for the September 2nd Teatime for Teachers Kentucky Folk workshop.

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