Author Archives: Sandra Staebell

by Sandra Staebell | June 12, 2012 · 4:53 pm

Spectrum Quilt on View at Shelburne Museum

Quilts on exhibit at the Shelburne Museum

George Yarrall Spectrum Quilt (L) and quilts by Albert Small (R) and Charles Pratt (B.) Photo courtesy of the Shelburne Museum.

Composed of more than 66,000 pieces, the unique Spectrum Quilt can be seen through October 28 as part of an exhibit, Man-Made Quilts: the Civil War to the Present, at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. Its maker, George Yarrall, was an immigrant from New Zealand who worked as an engraver at Morris Jewelry in Bowling Green, KY. Yarrall not only kept the colored paper template used in designing the textile, he also recorded in a handwritten note that the quilt was started on July 2, 1933 and finished two years later on December 30, 1935. The Spectrum Quilt is one of four quilts in the Kentucky Museum collection of nearly 200 quilts that are attributed to men.

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by Sandra Staebell | May 14, 2012 · 1:28 pm

Kentucky Museum Quilts on Exhibit at National Quilt Museum

Kentucky Museum quilts at the National Quilt Museum

Kentucky Museum quilts on view at the National Quilt Museum

Two basket pattern quilts from the Kentucky Museum are featured in the “New Quilts from an Old Favorite 2012: Baskets & Antique Basket Quilts” exhibit at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah. On view through July 10, the exhibit explores the relationship between traditional and contemporary interpretations of the basket pattern. Learn more about the exhibit.

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Civil War items on Exhibit at the Frazier History Museum

Henry Clay pipe and campaign ribbons on loan to the Frazier History Museum

Several objects from the Kentucky Library & Museum collection are featured in the exhibit, “Civil War: My Brother, My Enemy” at the Frazier History Museum in Louisville. They include political items such as a unique Henry Clay campaign pipe, several ribbons promoting the candidacies of James Buchanan, John C. Breckinridge, and Henry Clay; two Civil War era handbills; and two everyday objects – a china head doll and mid-19th century sewing machine.

Running through April 8, 2012, “My Brother, My Enemy,” explores how the Civil War impacted Kentuckians and examines the heart-wrenching and personal stories of the nationwide conflict that forever severed once close-knit relationships here in Kentucky. More information about the exhibit.

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by Sandra Staebell | November 9, 2011 · 2:59 pm

by Sandra Staebell | March 22, 2011 · 8:58 am

Snell Collection Icons on Exhibit in Owensboro

Three Saints icon

From now through May 31, artwork from the Kentucky Library & Museum is on view at the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art as part of “The Divine in Art” exhibit, a major survey of art in a religious genre collected or produced in this region in the past century. Two Russian icons, “Christ Pantocrator” and “Three Saints,” from the C. Perry Snell Collection are featured in the exhibit which consists of more than 150 works that date from the 15th century to the present.

For more information about the exhibit, contact the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art at 270-685-3181.

Images of other artworks in the Snell Collection are available online in KenCat.

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by Sandra Staebell | January 31, 2011 · 12:28 pm

Work by Dorothy Grider on exhibit at ERC

Illustrations by Dorothy Grider

Illustrations by Dorothy Grider

Driven to become an artist from the age of eight, Dorothy Grider studied at the Phoenix Art Institute of New York while attending Bowling Green High School (1927-1933) and Western Kentucky State Teachers College (WKSTC, 1933-1936). After college, she moved to New York, staying for a time at the Three Arts Club. Early in her career, Grider supported herself by illustrating holy cards and beauty parlor posters and later designed playing cards and greeting cards. Grider carved out a career as an illustrator of children’s literature and eventually became the favored artist for this material at Rand McNally. During her career, this artist illustrated 100 books, including six that she also wrote, and her work is available today in more than 200 libraries around the world. To learn more about the Dorothy Grider Collection at the Kentucky Library & Museum, search KenCat.

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by Sandra Staebell | September 14, 2010 · 6:26 am

Hawkins Portraits Featured in Book on Kentucky Actress

Joseph W. Hawkins

Portraits of Joseph W. Hawkins and George Ann Nicholas Hawkins are featured in a newly published biography, “Marie Prescott: A Star of Some Brilliancy” by Kevin Lane Dearinger.

Marie Prescott bio

The book explores the family roots, life and career of this native of Paris, Kentucky, including an ancestor, Joseph W. Hawkins, who was influential in the founding of the state of Texas. Prescott led a somewhat unconventional and often notorious life that included directing and starring in Oscar Wilde’s first play,”Vera, or the Nihilists.”After cataloging, the book will be available in the Harrison-Baird Reading Room of the Kentucky Library & Museum.

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by Sandra Staebell | August 27, 2010 · 2:28 pm

Kentucky Museum Art Now on View in Lexington

Portrait of a thoroughbred colt by Anna Hyatt Huntington

Three unique pieces from the KYLM collection are featured in the exhibit, The Horse in Decorative and Fine Art, at the Headley-Whitney Museum in Lexington. Consisting of a sculpture of a thoroughbred colt by noted artist Anna Hyatt Huntington, the Chester Dare quilt, and a wood carving by Ed and Pansy Cress, the selections from the Kentucky Museum join paintings, sculpture, folk art, textiles, object d’art, wood carvings, jewelry, historical ephemera and modern depictions of the horse borrowed from public and private collections in Kentucky and New York as well as several Smithsonian institutions. The exhibit runs through December 23, 2010. More information.

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by Sandra Staebell | June 30, 2010 · 5:50 am

Putting on the Ritz

Posing for the camera

Posing for the camera

Bowling Green residents and their grandchildren from Oregon enjoy a chance to play dress up in the Photographers Studio in our Civil War exhibit. Besides learning more about the unique role Kentucky and Kentuckians played in this conflict, visitors this summer can uncover the past of the man behind the cake box, national food icon Duncan Hines, see early twentieth century photographs of a German immigrant community in South Central Kentucky, view some of the fabulous pieces of furniture from the KYLM decorative arts collection, and discover what makes Western Kentucky University so special.

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by Sandra Staebell | June 10, 2010 · 6:29 am

Duncan Hines Objects on Loan to National Inventors Hall of Fame

Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix Box

What do containers that advertise Duncan Hines’ yellow cake mix, double-fudge brownie mix, and chocolate ice cream have in common with a “Recommended by Duncan Hines/Adventures in Good Eating” sign from 1951? Selected from the Duncan Hines Collection at the Kentucky Library & Museum, they are part of the “Inventive Eats: Incredible Food Innovations” exhibit mounted by the National Inventors Hall of Fame.From what it takes to fry an egg, have a bowl of breakfast cereal, or enjoy a bag of potato chips, innovations abound in the food world, and Inventive Eats presents the fascinating stories behind many of these food innovations.

Recommended by Duncan Hines sign

Interested in knowing more about Duncan Hines? Come visit the “Recommended by Duncan Hines” exhibit at the Kentucky Library & Museum which features photographs and postcards as well as pots and pans, barbecue tools, canned goods, china, and other objects associated with this nationally recognized food icon. The “Inventive Eats: Incredible Food Innovations” exhibit is currently running at the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Alexandria, Virginia and will move to its sister institution in Akron, Ohio in 2011.

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by Sandra Staebell | June 9, 2010 · 2:53 pm

Kentucky Library & Museum Quilt Currently on View in Lexington

Henry Clay Presentation Quilt

The Henry Clay Presentation Quilt is featured in the exhibit, “Cherished Ornaments of our House: Important Personal Artifacts of Henry Clay” at Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate. One of more than 165 quilts in the KYLM collection, this unique textile features a needlework portrait of our most famous Kentucky statesman as well as pastoral scenes done in crewelwork. The quilt is attributed to Clay’s wife, Lucretia.

Mounted to commemorate the completion of the book, “Henry Clay: The Essential American” by David and Jeanne Heidler, the exhibit includes numerous artifacts never before displayed at Ashland. The Henry Clay Quilt will be on exhibit at this historic Lexington home until July 9, 2010. Exhibit hours are 10 am to 4 pm Tuesday-Saturday and 1 pm-4 pm on Friday with tours occurring on the hour. More information.

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