Shriners Corporate Council Celebrates a Year of Giving
VERSAILLES The Shriners Corporate Council, a group of Central Kentucky business leaders, celebrated a year of giving to the new Shriners Medical Center at a festive holiday event at The Kentucky Castle in Versailles on December 7, 2017. Over 100 members, guests, and Shriners orthopedic surgeons attended.
In 2017, the Council funded a grant of $90,000 for the surgical mini C-arm and a grant of $47,485 for the orthopedic trauma instruments for use at the medical center. The summer event, “An Evening in a Magic Garden,” raised over $76,000 to begin funding the children’s garden and playground at the new facility on the UK campus and $800 to help send a patient ambassador to the Shriners Golf Open.
The Kentucky Castle was purchased by Drs. Matthew Dawson and Brian Adkins, along with several other co-owners, in July of 2017. Since acquiring the property, a major renovation has taken place transforming The Castle into a farm-to-table restaurant, boutique hotel, and event space.
The Nude is Back to Its Most Bare Form
LEXINGTON For over 30 years, the Lexington Art League has continued to push the boundaries beyond the traditional “figure exhibition” toward a deeper exploration of the human experience and form. On January 26, the Art League will present The Nude: Brutal Beauty, a stunning survey of the figure, touching upon our innermost instincts that crave satisfaction, pleasure, and comfort.
This year, The Nude is stripped down and back to its most bare, featuring works that seek to convey a universal rawness that reveals our desires and limitations, while boldly approaching the way we experience the human form. For the Art League, The Nude exhibition connects deeply to the roots of the organization, which has been a catalyst for advancing contemporary visual arts, throughout the region, for over 60 years. While this exhibition has a long history, this year’s installment will challenge its viewers to examine the motivations and desires that are part of our collective human experience.
“The title for the exhibition was inspired by Patrick Smith, a Lexington artist who I met with a year ago to discuss his newest body of work,” says Stephanie Harris, the Art League’s executive director. “Patrick’s ability to create hyper-realistic works that exude an astonishing authenticity is unmatched, and to me these works seems to communicate on a very deep and primal level.” Harris goes on to state, “Smith’s studio practice is very unique in the way he works with his subjects. For example, he may ask them to do something that they find satisfying or he will incorporate something that is important to them within the composition. This approach has an astounding result, leaving the works resonating with life and energy upon their completion.”
The entire collection of Smith’s recent works will be seen together for the first time during the The Nude: Brutal Beauty exhibition. Featuring more than 80 works of art, culled from over 1,000 submissions, The Nude: Brutal Beauty, which is supported by MD-Update will feature works by artists ranging from local to international in scope. The Nude Opening Celebration will provide guests with an opportunity to feed their senses on all things brutal and beautiful during the Bacchanalian-Fest on January 26 from 7–11 pm at the Loudoun House Galleries. For more information visit the Art League’s website at www.lexingtonartleague.org.