A Place To 'Hang'
First permanent gallery allows local art guild to showcase its works

By ROBERT VILLANUEVA
rvillanueva@thenewsenterprise.com

ELIZABETHTOWN — On the second floor of the Hardin County History Museum, Central Kentucky Art Guild has finally found a home. Now it has to finish settling in.

“This is the first time we’ve had a permanent place to show our art,” CKAG president Judy French said. The Guild started hanging works in the gallery in October 2008 and opened to the public then. “It took a while to get the hangers up,” she said. Then it was a matter of building up the display. “We’ve just been adding to it gradually,” French said. The gallery currently displays about 20 works by Guild members, including the Guild president who has a painting of a mill on exhibit. The art ranges from watercolor to photography.

“We have such wonderful artists,” French said. The Guild displays its members’ work on a three-month rotation at area businesses, such as Cobbler’s Café, Granite Center, The Cecilian Bank, North Hardin Health and Rehabilitation and Abe’s. Those displays will continue, French said. One of the paintings currently hanging in the gallery is by Vine Grove Guild member Elsie Hall. It depicts an old truck in a rural setting. “I paint all my trucks in watercolor because I can get more detail,” Hall said. Hall has been a Guild member since 1994 and works in oils, pastels and watercolors. Typically she paints from photographs. The new gallery, she said, is an important acquisition for the Guild because “at least we have a permanent place.” “I hope it will catch on, and I hope people will come up and see it,” Hall said.

“I think already it has helped,” Guild member LaVerne Arkenberg of Okolona said. Arkenberg also has work on display at the gallery. People entering the museum have noticed the gallery, she said.  Arkenberg has been a member since 1995. She works in a variety of media, sometimes even mixing them. “I work with what excites me at the time,” she said. Being a member of the Guild is worth the “70-minute round trip” to attend the meetings and visit the gallery, she said. She enjoys the camaraderie, as well as other opportunities. “You get to see our members evolve,” Arkenberg said.

Part of that is that displays will not stay the same, French said. “As the artist feels they have something better or something different to show, they’ll bring it in,” she said. Though the gallery is just getting established, French expects some improvements in the future, such as new lighting. With a paid membership of about 70, French hopes the new gallery introduces the Guild to people who might have otherwise not  known it existed. “What we want is to get the community aware we’re here and we’re here to help,” she said. Though French doesn’t think most people in the community are aware the gallery exists, she hopes that will change. “We’re just happy to have a place to hang,” French said.

IF YOU GO: The art gallery of the Central Kentucky Art Guild is located on the second floor of the Hardin County History Museum at 201 W. Dixie Ave. in Elizabethtown and is open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information about the Central Kentucky Art Guild visit www.centralkyartguild.com

Robert Villanueva can be reached at  (270) 505-1743  (270) 505-1743 .  

Photo by Jill Pickett
Judy French, president of the Central Kentucky Art Guild, hangs a member's painting at the group's gallery in the Hardin County History Museum in Elizabethtown.

Photos by Jill Pickett
Central Kentucky Art Guild member Elsie Hall, left, and Guild president Judy French, hang a fellow member's artwork in the group's gallery at the Hardin County History Museum in Elizabethtown

 

Central Kentucky Art Guild member LaVerne Arkenberg speaks about one of her works that she brought to hang in the group's gallery at the Hardin County History Museum in Elizabethtown.

 

Paintings by Central Kentucky Art Guild member Mary Lou Hall hang in the group's gallery at the Hardin County History Museum in Elizabethtown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A painting by Central Kentucky Art Guild member Theresa Shelton hangs in the group's gallery at the Hardin County History Museum in Elizabethtown.