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PRHBTN
PRHBTN founders John and Jessica Winters. Photo by Mark Mahan
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Photo by Chelsey Olson
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Photo by Jodie Koch
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Photo by Magnus Lindqvist | GLINTstudios
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Photo by Magnus Lindqvist | GLINTstudios
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Photo by Magnus Lindqvist | GLINTstudios
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Photo by Magnus Lindqvist | GLINTstudios
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Photo by Magnus Lindqvist | GLINTstudios
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Photo by Magnus Lindqvist | GLINTstudios
Lexington is in the midst of a colorful outbreak, and we’re not talking about the changing fall colors. With six new large-scale public murals popping up on the city’s walls in October – joining dozens that have been installed over the past five or six years – it’s been a markedly prolific season for street art in Lexington.
While this burgeoning presence of public art has dozens of community partners to thank, significant credit is due to a local grassroots organization called PRHBTN, which has facilitated the installation of nearly 20 murals in and around downtown Lexington. Part public art enterprise, part street art festival, the organization is a labor of love fueled by the passion of local couple John and Jessica Winters, who have overseen efforts to bring 18 notable muralists to Lexington from around the world. Those efforts include everything from securing walls and funding to supplying paint and equipment – the Winterses even put the artists up in their house from time to time.
“We want to make sure they enjoy it,” said Jessica. “It’s always our goal to make people happy.”
Though it started in 2011, hosting small arts events and coordinating a couple of public art projects the first couple years, PRHBTN really burst into the public eye in 2013, when it facilitated the installation of five eye-popping murals around town by globally known artists. Perhaps the most recognizable contribution that year was the 60-foot tall colorful, geometric “Lincoln” mural created by Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra on the back of the Kentucky Theatre building facing Vine Street.
The Lexington community has largely supported the efforts of PRHBTN, with private donors and online crowd-funding via Kickstarter covering the majority of the artists’ travel fees and other expenses affiliated with the murals, and also stepping up to contribute in other ways.
“It’s been really cool to have these people come in and be embraced by the city,” said John. “Third Street Stuff [has] a running tab for all of our artists, for anything they want – that’s been awesome. The Country Boy Brewing guys just show up and ask, ‘how much beer do you need?’ and bring it.”
It’s personal touches like those that help elevate PRHBTN – and Lexington – to the participating artists, many of whom have taken part in larger, corporate-sponsored street art festivals around the world.
“I think people like the grassroots nature of the festival,” said Jessica, adding that the relatively small scale of PRHBTN and its organic, laid-back vibe have allowed them to attract muralists for a portion of what they would typically cost. While PRHBTN covers travel costs, daily stipends and materials, visiting artists typically forego artist fees in exchange for complete creative control over what they paint, as well as the chance to interact on a more personal level with a community that has overall been quite hospitable.
John and Jessica agree that Lexington’s growing positive reputation among international muralists – as well as the community’s propensity to embrace them – can largely be traced to 2012, when the German artist duo Herakut came to Lexington to create two murals, one on the south facing wall of 156 Market St., one on North Limestone near the corner of Sixth Street. PRHBTN supported the effort to bring Herakut to town, but the project was actually catalyzed by Kurt Gohde and Kremena Todorova, a local team of Transylvania professors and supporters of community engagement and art.
“At the time, there were no murals by street artists [in Lexington] yet,” said Todorova. She recalled that as word spread about the German artists who were painting a giant mural downtown, spectators began to show up with picnic blankets, often setting up shop for several hours to watch the pair work. Teachers brought their schoolchildren downtown to watch and interact with the artists, and the local community marching band March Madness Marching Band even organized a surprise show for them while they were working. Oftentimes, one member of the personable artist duo would be painting and the other would be talking to students and passersby, she said.
“It really became a celebration by the community,” said Todorova. “[Herakut] really helped give street art a good name in Lexington, because people loved chatting with them – not all artists are as friendly or are able to come down and chat.”
Gohde and Todorova, whose newest in a long line of artistic engagement projects is Unlearn Fear + Hate, a series of public artworks that was born out of racial tension, continue to make an effort to bring every visiting muralist who comes through Lexington lunch at least once.
“The fact that Lexington is very gracious as a host city really plays well in us getting more artists in the future,” Gohde added.
Visit www.prhbtn.com for more information on the project and a map of the murals the organization has facilitated.