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(IMMAG) is a community collaboration aimed at commemorating the lives, stories and contributions of African-American horse industry members from Lexington’s East End neighborhood.
April 30, 2008 Lexington Herald-LeaderART GARDEN TO HONOR LEGENDARY JOCKEY, OTHERS
By Jennifer Hewlett
JHEWLETT@HERALD-LEADER.COM
Ever-changing video walls, "waves" of grass and a 3-D representation of a legend in thoroughbred racing -- things intended to reflect movement -- will dominate the new Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden. After all, Murphy, one of the most successful jockeys of all time, rode fast horses, said landscape architect Mark Arnold, who created the design for the art garden.A rendering of the design was unveiled Tuesday just across the street from the sliver of land, bordered by Midland Place, Nelson Avenue and Third Street, that is to be the location of the new art garden.
Although a design has been chosen, money is needed to complete the project, supporters said.The garden is not only intended to honor Murphy, who once lived in that area of town, and other African-Americans from Lexington's East End who contributed to the sport of thoroughbred racing. It also is meant to serve as a gateway to downtown."It is a day that is long overdue," Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry said at the unveiling, as he rattled off the accomplishments of Murphy.
Those include being the only jockey to have won the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Oaks and the Clark Handicap in the same year -- 1884."Even I would be smart enough to bet on this guy."The unveiling marked the beginning of an effort to tell a more complete story of Lexington and Kentucky's equine industry than has been told in the past, Newberry said.Isaac Murphy was a generous, industrious man who liked to entertain lavishly in his home. He could have lived in any major city in the country, but he chose to live in Lexington, which in his day was a very racist town, said Yvonne Giles, chairman of the board of Lexington's Isaac Scott Hathaway Museum."He was a man. He was a person. He was not just a jockey," she said, adding that Murphy influenced the life of the sculptor and artist for whom the museum is named.
The small park will include a "winner's circle," with a video wall that tells the story of Isaac Murphy. A second interactive video wall along the main plaza will tell the story of African-Americans' contributions to the horse industry. There will be an area containing "waves" of grass where people can watch or participate in various informal events and activities. A "ribbon" of granite, which will bear a poem that tells the story of the community, will weave through the garden.
Several local dignitaries gathered for the unveiling of plans for the art garden project, which started as a collaborative effort of NorthEast Lexington Initiative, Leadership Lexington and Arts Power.Eventually, members of those groups and others formed the Friends of Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden, a not-for-profit organization responsible for designing, building and developing programming for the garden.
Early supporters of the project include Keeneland, Toyota and Smucker. The Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has selected the art garden as one of its "legacy" projects being done in preparation for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington. The art garden project is expected to cost $1.7 million, said Dave Melanson, secretary of the Friends of IMMAG board. So far, $35,000 has been raised and more donations are being sought, said Andy Barr, vice president of the board. "In order to make this happen, we need dollars," said Bruce Mundy, who also serves on the board.Most of the approximately half-acre of land for the garden is owned by the state, which will be turning the property over to the local government. The rest is owned by Smucker, which has agreed to transfer that portion to the city, Barr said. |
