Welcome to PaducahArts' New Monthly Newsletter!

Summer is packed with new artists, new events, new shows, new works. And it's all in LowerTown! Join us and pass on this newsletter to other art lovers.

Contact artinfo@ci.paducah.ky.us for more information.

Spring Events

Ongoing Events

Make reservations for dinner at The Stranded Cow each Second Saturday!
Writer's Showcase at Etcetera Coffeehouse every Friday at 7pm
Starting June 1st, the HeART of Healing Gallery will have expanded hours and be open Wed-Sun from 12-5 pm, and 12- 8 pm on Second Saturdays
Merry Gems Studio is now open Every Second Saturday

June

1 - 19 - Adriane Cruz, fiber artist-in-residence, A.I.R. Studios
7 - Green Living, WKCTC
14 - Second Saturday
Galleries open 12-8 pm
14 - "Sky Scapes" New work by William F. Renzulli, Gallery 5
Opening Reception 5-8 pm
14 - Merry Gems Studio
303 N. 5th St., 1-8 pm
14 - Arlene Ehleben Exhibit
The Egg and I Gallery
Opening Reception, 6-8 pm
14 - "Esperto e Riservato" Small Works on Canvas by Paul Lorenz
Studio Mars, 12-8 pm
21-30 - Francis Zaander, painter, artist-in-residence at A.I.R. Studios

July

12 - "Recent Memories"
Work by Nancy VanReece
Pinecone Gallery
Opening Reception 6-8 pm

August

9 - "Sometimes Life is Still"
New paintings by Wil Mackay
Stornoway House Gallery

Archived Newsletters

June/July 2011
April/May 2011
March 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
January/February 2010
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008

Jay O'Rourke

June 2008

Jay is an amazing woodworking artisan. But, if he had a choice, he’d be a musician in a rock and roll band.

Meet Jay O’Rourke – a quiet, mellow, agreeable guy with an easy smile and enormous talent. Which apparently comes naturally, because Jay has never taken a woodworking class, with the exception of high school shop class. He’s pretty much your stereotypical California surfer turned actual adult – a change in circumstance, not necessarily attitude.

This laid-back nature allowed Jay to do something few people are able to do – he let life and perhaps destiny help determine his path. And what a path it has been.

Born and raised in Santa Barbara, California, Jay played in a garage band and surfed when he wasn’t in school. As he incurred more expenses surfing, he agreed to work on friends’ surfboards to help cover his bills. This was back in the ‘60s, so we’re talking about wood surfboards, of course. Then, because he decided he wanted to go organic, he carved some chopsticks and other utensils from wood. His friends thought they were cool, so Jay made them some. Little by little, Jay was earning a living with his woodworking.

Not that he wanted to be a woodworking artisan – he wanted to be a jeweler and was designing beautiful pieces from turquoise and silver and other gems. But in 1970, when Jay signed up for his first real artist booth in an art fair, he was told that they had plenty of jewelers and they wanted him to only bring his woodwork. Jay O Boxes was born.

Life went along as it does on the left coast; Jay married the girl of his dreams (who he met at a Renaissance Faire in California) and they had a couple of kids. Jay was making a decent living as a woodwork craftsman and his wife Janet was an illustrator and two-dimensional artist. Exceptional in her own right, the money was in the boxes… the Jay O Boxes, that is. So, Janet became Jay’s partner in more than just the marriage – she helped with the woodwork and started designing for the one-of-a-kind pieces. They moved to Oregon, where they lived and worked happily as artists for about 15 years. But the commute from Hood River (just north east of Portland, OR) to all of the art shows they participated in was grueling, so Jay and Janet decided to relocate to a more central location. Their very good friend and fellow artist had moved to Paducah and was very happy, so they gave her a call and set up a visit.

Julie Shaw, owner of Aphrodite Gallery, was delighted to show her adopted hometown to Jay and Janet. And in November, 2006, on the Second Saturday of the month, Jay and Janet fell in love with Paducah, also. Over the course of a three day visit, Jay and Janet toured the galleries, met a bunch of the artists, found a house they just loved (left), met with the bank, made an offer on the house and sealed the deal.

[I interrupt this story to say that ONLY in a place like Paducah could that happen in three days!! Over a weekend, no less.]

In February, 2007, Jay and Janet O’Rourke moved into their house in LowerTown and went to work setting up a gallery and workshop in back. Thus, Aspire Arts Studio & Gallery came to be. When you visit Aspire Arts, you will be dazzled by the elegant beauty of Jay’s exotic hardwood boxes. You will easily recognize Jay’s wife Janet’s influence and input — a perfect marriage of practical and fanciful in the fine craftsmanship.

When asked about life in Paducah’s LowerTown Arts District, Jay said, “It’s like life at an art show: you set up business beside other artists; you work beside them day in and day out; you share common interests and help each other out when something comes up. It’s good.”

It is good, Jay. And it’s even better with you here.

Visit Aspire Arts Studio & Gallery to check out Jay’s boxes, along with other fine art and American crafts. The Gallery is located at 611 N. 6th Street in LowerTown or contact Jay and Janet O’Rourke at jayobox@jayoboxes.com or 270-575-3349. Aspire Arts is open Fridays and Saturdays 10 to 5pm and Second Saturdays 12 to 8pm.

by Erica Moore

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