A Novel Approach

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Author Ed McClanahan and artist Michelle Armstrong show off the bench she painted in honor of his book, “Famous People I Have Known,” at the Book Bench Preview. Photo by David Fitts

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Local artist Maui Crane sits on the bench he designed in tribute to “The Walking Dead.” Photo by David Fitts

Horses and bourbon have had their turn, and now, a new public art project is celebrating a third thing Lexington would like to be known for.

No, not basketballs. Books.

Titled “Book Benches: A Tribute to Kentucky Authors,” the new project is a collaboration among Arts Connect, LexArts, and the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning that features 38 fiberglass book-shaped benches placed throughout the city. Each bench pays homage to a book by a Kentucky author and is illustrated by a local visual artist.

The benches will be displayed at their current locations through October then auctioned at a formal gala in November, with proceeds benefiting the three collaborating organizations.

“Unlike the horses, these are works of art we invite you to sit on,” says Nan Plummer, president and CEO of LexArts, referencing the wildly popular public art project of 2000 and 2010, Horsemania.

Unlike Horsemania and 2013’s The Bourbon Barrel Project on Town Branch, Book Benches connects two sectors of the arts community – the literary and visual artists – in surprising new ways, building community among project participants.

When sculptor and painter Damon Farmer read the project’s open call to artists, he was already reading the book he would end up selecting.

“By happy coincidence, I was reading the Sena Jeter Naslund novel ‘Ahab’s Wife’ when I became aware of the Book Bench Project,” says Farmer. “Already inspired by her vivid nautical descriptions, the book was a natural choice.”

Farmer had never read Naslund’s work before but enjoyed it so much he went on to read all of her works. At the project’s preview party at Gratz Park in June, the artist and author met for the first time, with Naslund gifting Farmer a signed copy of her book.

“It was a tender first meeting,” says Jessica Mohler, marketing and communications director of the Carnegie Center.

“It was also a wonderful reminder of the power of community engagement when we find intersections in art,” Mohler continues. “Here were two artists, unknown to each other, pursuing very different artistic mediums yet their shared canvas deepened our conversation around their process and meaning.”

Book Benches will be placed throughout Lexington for public display June - October 2018. This map of downtown Lexington displays the location of each book bench. More information is available at www.bookbencheslex.org.

While the project celebrates Kentucky authors, it was the visual artists and representatives from the organizing entities and sponsors who decided which books would be featured.

Kate Savage, founder of Arts Connect as well as the Book Benches project itself, worked with staff at the Carnegie Center to create a call to artists describing the project. A list of suggested books by Kentucky authors was provided to spark ideas, although artists could select books not on the list.

They received almost 100 proposals.

“It was like Christmas,” Savage says of the day all of the proposals were received.

“There were 92 submissions and without exception, all works of art,” says Savage. “Each one made us gasp.”

Savage invited sponsors to select which piece they wanted to support.

“Sponsors were the jury if you will,” says Savage. “We put 92 sketches out on the table and let that poor first sponsor come in and rifle through them. So, they were the ones that made the selection.”

Savage conceived the project after encountering a similar one while traveling and has played the role of visionary and project administrator throughout the project’s development.

“I saw it done in London in 2014 and thought it would be a good fit for Lexington,” says Savage. “It took me a little while to gather my thoughts around it and approach Neil [Chethik, Carnegie Center executive director] and Nan [Plummer, of LexArts] to ask them if they’d like to collaborate.”

“That gave us a great opportunity to get our authors excited about what’s going on here,” says Chethik, who, along with other arts leaders, is lobbying for Lexington’s literary wealth to become part of its public story, with the ultimate goal of helping Lexington become a UNESCO City of Literature.

“The authors have been almost beside themselves with feeling honored,” says Chethik, adding that “from the standpoint of the literary community, this is another affirmation that we’re noticed and doing good work here in Lexington.”

“I’m really proud to be part of it,” says best-selling novelist Silas House. “It is so important right now – in a time of rising anti-intellectualism – to celebrate the arts and these benches do a wonderful job of honoring Kentucky writers and artists while also providing functional pieces of art for the community.”

Former Kentucky Poet Laureate Gurney Norman is another Kentucky author impressed by the project.

Dedicated to his famous road-trip novel “Divine Right’s Trip,” Norman’s bench is sponsored by Lextran and designed by an artist who encountered Norman’s work by accident.

“In my youth, I found a copy of the ‘Whole Earth Catalog’ that my mother must have purchased by mistake,” says book bench artist Anthony Adams. “Fortunately, the publication contained Gurney Norman’s ‘Divine Right’s Trip’ – I got on Norman’s VW bus of imagination and never got off.”

Norman says he thinks Adams’ design is fun, colorful and conveys the spirit of the book.

“When I was writing ‘Divine Right’s Trip’ in the Poppycock Building in Palo Alto nearly half a century ago, I assumed that naturally there would eventually be a trippy DRT bench somewhere in Kentucky, proving what I suspected all along – this is a trip that never ends,” Norman says.

Carnegie Center literary liaison Jayne Moore Waldrop adds that while the benches do focus on many living writers, the scope of its featured work goes all the way back to Kentucky’s early literary history.

“We have writers from the 18th century and the first African American novelist in Kentucky, William Wells Brown,” says Waldrop. “Not only are we celebrating our living writers, but we’re paying tribute to our great literary heritage here.”

The Livery Bench Auction

The benches will be auctioned at a gala taking place on Nov. 17 at The Livery in downtown Lexington. For more on the project, visit www.bookbencheslex.org.

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