'Red River" exhibit at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft

A new exhibit, Red River: The Narrative Carvings of Edgar Tolson, Donny Tolson, Carl McKenzie and Earnest Patton, which features 10 or more works by four artists of the Campton School, begins July 24 at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft and runs through Oct. 9.

The carvings include six Garden of Eden pieces by Edgar Tolson. Larry Hackley, who has known all four artists going back to the 1970s, serves as guest curator. The four sculptors are among the most important figures in contemporary American folk art. Edgar Tolson’s son, Donny Tolson; Carl McKenzie and Earnest Patton — also in the show — were greatly influenced by the elder Tolson’s pioneering carving although they have evolved their own distinctive styles.

“This exhibition ... establishes that Appalachian Kentucky’s visual arts tradition is equally as rich and vibrant as the region’s music and literature,” writes Hackley in the exhibition essay. “The work of these artists addresses universal themes and celebrates a particular sense of place.”

Red River is the ninth exhibition in the Mary Norton Shands Kentucky Artist Series, an ongoing series of exhibitions that focus on the rich variety and quality of Kentucky art and artists, presented in the memory of the founder of the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft.  The opening reception will be July 23 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. You can buy a 48-page, full-color catalog, which includes essays by Hackley and Adrian Swain at the museum. This traveling exhibition was organized by The Kentucky Folk Art Center at Morehead State University, and was funded in part by a Folklife Program grant from The Kentucky Arts Council. Additional funding for the exhibition comes from Brown-Forman and the Arthur K. Smith Family Foundation.  

Admission is free for museum members, children 12 and younger, and students with a valid ID. Senior citizens and members of the military pay $5. Everyone else pays $6. If one or more exhibition galleries are closed due to transitioning exhibits, the price drops to half. Admission drops to $4 for groups of 10 or more. First Friday Trolley Hop evenings and the opening of any exhibition, however, are free to all. A visit to the Gallery Shop is always free.

While the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft generally closes at 5 p.m., it’s open late for the First Friday Trolley Hop.

- by Ivonne Rovira, Louisville Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Ivonne Rovira

A graduate of the prestigious Columbia University School of Journalism in New York City, Ivonne Rovira worked as a reporter for the Miami News, The Miami Herald and The Associated Press. She has written articles for The National Catholic Reporter and The Courier-Journal. For more than 15 years, Ivonne wrote and edited articles aimed at middle-school children.