A new mural featuring a racing horse with ties to western Kentucky will be unveiled in Paducah this week.
The mural, titled “Xela Wins at Keenland,” is based on the 2010 quilt of the same name by Paducah artist Deb Lyons.
Unlike some of the other pieces of artwork in the series by Paducah Quilt Murals Inc., both the new mural and the quilt inspiring it were completed by the same artist. Lyons said she auditioned with 13 other local artists to demonstrate their abilities in translating fabric to paint.
“So I'm really honored to have them choose my quilt, and then have them say, why don't you paint it? And honestly, it was kind of a relief painting my own work,” Lyons said.
The quilt’s story starts with the thoroughbred Xela, born in 2004. After what a PQMI release described as an “uninspiring early racing career,” the horse was sent to Florida in 2007 to spend the winter there, with plans to move him to West Virginia and sell him to new owners.
However, horse trainer Jake Secor – who has family ties to western Kentucky – saw potential in Xela after only six weeks of training, and convinced the owners to take Xela to Keeneland instead. Xela ran twice at the Lexington track and won both races – earning him the 2008 title of Spring Horse of the Keeneland Meet.
Lyons is friends with Secor’s mother, fellow Paducah artist Patience Renzulli. Inspired by Xela’s story and her friend’s connections with the thoroughbred, Lyons created a quilt featuring the horse based on a race day photo by longtime horse track photographer Pat Lang. Lyons said she then entered the quilt for consideration in a juried show at the National Quilt Museum, and her work was accepted.
While her 2010 quilt took around six weeks to complete, Lyons said she has put more than 1,000 hours into recreating the quilt as a painted mural.
“Well, it wasn't always relaxing. It was meditative. It was a challenge. It was like putting a puzzle together,” Lyons said.
The quilt is currently owned by Mike Cappock, who is also sponsoring the mural. Cappock brought out the quilt for Lyons to use to match the colors, textures and the fabrics of the original piece to the mural.
The quilt was chosen after the board of Quilt City USA Murals agreed to pursue a piece that represented Kentucky for the next piece. One of the members later saw an exhibit at Paducah City Hall featuring the quilt, and added the quilt to the list of candidates. The quilt was then voted to be the next mural added to the floodwall.
The mural is set to be presented on Thursday at 4 p.m. The mural will be on the floodwall adjacent to the Paducah-McCracken County Convention Center – which is also hosting visitors that day for the American Quilter’s Society’s annual Paducah QuiltWeek. Lyons, Cappock and Renzulli will all share their own personal experiences relating to the story behind the mural and how it came to be.
