Kentucky Guide and Deals

In 1909, a group of local art enthusiasts banded together to foster a community appreciation for art and further the practice of creating art. More than three decades later, they moved from their home at the old Water Tower, and now fill their new space with workshops, classes, and exhibits. Louisville Visual Art Association remains dedicated to promoting local artists, artistic styles, and contemporary culture.

A team of instructors instills painting and sculpting skills in children of all ages with the Children's Fine Art Classes program, which lets kids hone their understanding of color and technique during nearly 40 classes and camps. They also teach adult art classes, and help economically and socially disadvantaged students exhibit their artwork through Open Doors. Six to eight annual exhibitions often showcase work from these programs, but may also display fabric and knit pieces from local artists, or house events such as custom plates, cups, and utensils fashioned by 16 national ceramics artists to recreate Salvador Dali’s themed dinner parties. Each year, staff also fill two galleries with up to 800 works from its children’s programs, and celebrate local restaurants and music at the annual Bacon Ball.

A member of the Smithsonian Affiliate Membership Program and the American Association of Museums, the Frazier History Museum houses interactive temporary exhibits and permanent galleries filled with artifacts and stories representing more than 1,000 years of human history. The 100,000-square-foot facility harbors two permanent collections⎯the Frazier Museum Collection, featuring American and international artifacts, and the British Royal Armouries. The American History exhibit showcases artifacts from early colonial settlement up through 1900, including the ivory-handled Colt pistols of General George Armstrong Custer and the original “Big Stick” of President Theodore Roosevelt, which turned out to be an especially sturdy wizard's wand.

K.A.S. Gallery—or Kentucky Art Speaks—adorns its walls inside the 360,000-square-foot Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center with colorful, innovative art pieces from local, out-of-state, and international artists. The gallery’s walls host thoughtful paintings, photographs, and modern-dance reenactments of famous still-life paintings, and the facility hosts classes that foster an artistic and thoughtful community. Registered yoga instructors lead meditative Ashtanga, beginners, slow flow, and Vinyasa classes amid the artwork, tailoring instruction to each student's needs, abilities, and fitness goals while incorporating breathing exercises and relaxing music. The Arts for Kids classes introduce youngsters to various creative mediums such as fiber and textiles, self portraits, and dance.

Residing in the restored 1925 L&N Depot, where Bowling Green–bound trains tenaciously chugged toward, The Historic Railpark and Train Museum educates rail revivalists on the train cars and culture of a departed, but still kicking, era. Toot your own horn if you can correctly identify five subtly different sounds of passenger cars during an aurally pleasing exhibit, or ask an interactive conductor mannequin if passengers groggily tucked their own handlebar mustaches into their eardrums to quietly rest in the sleeping car. Although entry for children 4 and younger is free, a family membership to The Historic Railpark and Train Museum makes for an economically priced getaway, where children can expend energy excitedly pointing at cabooses and parents can relax watching informational railroad films. Put on the old conductor hat, brush up on railroad lingo, and learn about the monorail's supremely cooler uncle at The Historic Railpark and Train Museum.

The Art Museum at the University of Kentucky showcases more than 4,500 masterpieces including American and European paintings, photographs, and sculpture. Oil and watercolors grace canvases by artists from around the world, including the American impressionist painting Bucks County Winter by Edward Willis Redfield and the Italian Baroque painting Madonna and Child with St. John by Agostino Carracci. The collection’s three-dimensional art forms also span the centuries, with examples of Native American ceremonial robes and a variety of outdoor sculptures that call upon contemporary amalgamations of steel, bronze, and stone. Traveling exhibitions, lecture series, and annual events aim to inspire as well as to create opportunities for patrons to gain new perspectives on how to best arrange a bowl of fruit.

A loud whistle sounds off in the distance, signaling the arrival of a steam locomotive. The train pulls past dozens of trees and into the station. It’s just another day at the Kentucky Railway Museum, where new and restored trains take visitors on nostalgic journeys through the New Haven countryside. The area’s scenic landscapes encompass 17 miles of track that meander around scenic Mount Vernon. The stationary exhibit hall—a replica of the original New Haven depot—houses a collection of railroad artifacts and memorabilia ranging from rail carts and dining cars to steam whistles and the discarded mustaches of malevolent railroad barons.