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Welcome to Paducah Arts' Monthly Newsletter! Paducah: Eat. Shop. Explore. Artists, Galleries, Theater, Fine Dining, Museums in the Cultural Arts Center of Paducah. Contact artinfo@ci.paducah.ky.us for more information. |
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October 2009 Small Town's Story Transforms Drab Walls Into Art |
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Art comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. It can be conventional and purposeful, or it can be abstract and difficult to define. Paducah has used art to tell the story of a community that has grown into a cultural center for arts and entertainment. The city’s floodwalls tell a large part of Paducah’s story. The floodwalls have transformed a portion of Paducah’s Renaissance Area into a visual reminder of the city’s colorful past. Began in 1996, the Wall to Wall Mural Project provides three city blocks with murals, running down Water Street from Jefferson Street south to Kentucky Avenue. Each mural is painted using historic realism by the Robert Dafford muralists. “We paint each mural to fit an era. The panels vary stylistically, based on the time period we are trying to represent,” said artist Herb Roe. “We purposely imitate an artist of the era we’re representing in order to represent the style of that particular time period.” Each panel tells one of many stories that have woven together to create the culture and character that exists in the city today. Stories the murals tell range from remembrances of Paducah’s role in the Civil War, the floods that plagued the city in centuries past and even the rich spiritual and cultural heritage that exists in the community still today. The Wall to Wall Murals are the product of a joint effort between private and civic organizations. A volunteer advisory board continues to work with the Paducah Renaissance Alliance, the city’s national Main Street program, to ensure that the historic integrity of the murals is maintained. In 2008, the mural project moved to a maintenance phase. The city helps fund the maintenance of the murals, with fundraising support from the sale of Wall to Wall Mural merchandise, coordinated by the Paducah Renaissance Alliance (PRA), located at 605 Broadway. PRA coordinates mural maintenance and continues to raise funds for maintaining the wall through the sale of limited edition prints, posters, books, and postcards. Roe, one of the key muralists involved in this extensive project comes to Paducah each summer to maintain the beauty of each floodwall mural. Roe partners with LowerTown Arts District artist, Teresa Perry, touching up images and repainting older images that have begun to fade each summer. Roe has become an identifiable character in the community’s historic district and can often be found on a summer afternoon autographing posters and postcards which visitors purchase from the Paducah Renaissance Alliance. Visitors and residents, alike, visit the Wall to Wall murals throughout the year to learn more about the people who have written Paducah’s story. It has become a popular attraction and an important symbol for the community.  |
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