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Western Kentucky Art Gallery Collecting Helen LaFrance's Artwork For Tribute Show

SHELTON GALLERY / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

  A western Kentucky art gallery is collecting the artwork of the celebrated Black artist Helen LaFrance, who died last year at 101, for a tribute show later this month.

 

The Ice House Gallery in Mayfield is asking those with LaFrance’s work to bring pieces to the gallery this week for the show slated to begin on Feb. 9 and end Feb. 27. Gallery Director Nanc Gunn said the gallery is hoping to have about 65 pieces for the show. 

 

“We’ve had a lot of Mayfield residents coming in to give us some of the arts they hang in their homes, and we’re hoping to also get some wood carvings and dolls as well,” Gunn said.

 

LaFrance was a self-taught artist whose best known paintings were memories of rural life, including past picnics, funerals, and more. Her paintings were housed in museums across the country, in Europe, and in the collections of Oprah Winfrey and Bryant Gumbel. LaFrance also received the 2011 Folk Heritage Award from the Kentucky Arts Council.

 

Those interested in the show and other artwork at the gallery, including art sold by local Black artists, can find the gallery’s hours at its website

 

 

"Liam Niemeyer is a reporter for the Ohio Valley Resource covering agriculture and infrastructure in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia and also serves Assistant News Director at WKMS. He has reported for public radio stations across the country from Appalachia to Alaska, most recently as a reporter for WOUB Public Media in Athens, Ohio. He is a recent alumnus of Ohio University and enjoys playing tenor saxophone in various jazz groups."
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