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Contemporary space

Tom Eblen — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:42:26 +0000

My daughter, Shannon, and I went to the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati last weekend. It’s one of my favorite regional museums. On one exhibit floor, there was a lot of open space and a staff watchman who didn’t have much to do but read.

State Fair dreams

Tom Eblen — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:49:04 +0000

I spent a day at the Kentucky State Fair last week, and I found the bounty of rural Kentucky on display in a corner of the state’s largest city, Louisville.

The 10-year-old girl from Perryville was in her second year of showing cattle, having shown goats almost since she could walk. She was a woman in control of the big Brown Swiss cow, Sincere. When it followed her lead, she lovingly petted it. But when it pulled away, or she needed to get its attention, she walloped it on the side.

Below, a semi-retired Baptist minister from Somerset watched over his son’s prize dairy cattle. This was his 37th year at the fair.

Friday night lights

Tom Eblen — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:53:14 +0000

I was going through some old film and found one of the first good photos I ever took. It is a cheerleader at Lafayette High School in Lexington, Ky., worried about her team as it plays archrival Tates Creek in the fall of 1976.

Dog days at CentrePointe

Tom Eblen — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:49:01 +0000

After a big thunderstorm Tuesday afternoon, I drove down Main Street to check on the site of the proposed CentrePointe development. It’s a project that has been unpopular with many people in Lexington. As a columnist, I’ve been quite critical of it. Market forces seem to have doomed the project, though. The developer recently covered it with dirt. More recently, rain has turned it into a lake. As I was waiting at the light to turn a corner, I looked back and saw Coleman Larkin and his dalmatian, Sal. I’ll leave any commentary to Sal.

The sun shines bright (enough to read)

Tom Eblen — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:55:16 +0000

A guide at My Old Kentucky Home State Park in Bardstown reads between tours in the sunlit hall at the bottom of the grand staircase of Federal Hill in July 2009. Stephen Collins Foster is said to have visited the circa 1818 mansion and been inspired to write Kentucky’s state song, My Old Kentucky Home, Goodnight.

Old building gets new life

Tom Eblen — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 22:53:48 +0000

In a complicated public-private partnership, First Presbyterian Church renovated Lexington, Ky.’s oldest apartment building, which dates from the mid-1800s, into affordable housing. This photo was taken during a tour after the dedication ceremony on July 23, 2009. As photojournalism, it’s a bit of a hard read. But I like the light and geometry. My artist daughter says she likes the warm colors surrounded by the cool colors.

A dream deferred coming true

Tom Eblen — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 22:47:20 +0000

The Lyric Theatre in Lexington, Ky., closed in 1963 because, as racial segregation was ending, African Americans could go to any theater in town. But the Lyric, on East Third Street and Elm Tree Lane, has remained an icon in the black community, even as it crumbled from neglect. On July 15, 2009, officials broke ground for a long-delayed renovation that will turn the Lyric into an African American cultural and performing arts center. After the ceremony, people toured the shell that is about all that’s left of the old Lyric. For many of them, it was a space full of memories — and hopes for the future.

The backside at dawn

Tom Eblen — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:56:20 +0000

Most visitors to Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., spend their time at the track. The barns on the backside are a whole different world. April 2009.

Spring comes to Keeneland

Tom Eblen — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:53:06 +0000

Few places are more magical than Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., just after dawn and just before the spring or fall race meet begins. These photos were taken the day before the 2009 April meeting. Read my column about it by clicking here.

Ruff neighborhood

Tom Eblen — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:43:50 +0000

Even the dogs in New York City have attitude. June 2005.