Celebrating Audubon Gala & Auction Honorary Chair, First Lady Jane Beshear
You are invited to attend the Celebrating Audubon Gala & Auction Saturday, October 23 on the stage of the Henderson Fine Arts Center, 2660 South Green Street, Henderson, KY. Ten nationally acclaimed artists will be painting on the stage; paintings will be auctioned after dinner in a live auction. The proceeds from the miniature painting to be completed that evening will benefit Friends of Audubon, Ohio Valley Art League and Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Foundations for underprivileged children. A thirty percent commission of the fifty other paintings featured will go to the three groups listed above. Special Presentation: John Ruthven, International Wildlife Artist and John Agnew, Nationally Recognized Wildlife Artist. Entertainment by Monte Shelton. This is black tie optional.
6:00 p.m. Social Hour and Gallery Viewing 7:00 p.m. Dinner Cost per person: $100 Please contact Barbara Ray to make a reservation: 270-827-3489 email: b_ray@bellsouth.net
Wildlife, Art & Wine October 22 - 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Riverbend Academy - Corner 2nd St. & Main St., Henderson, KY
The artists will setup Friday evening October 22, to meet people allowing the public to view the artworks and make bids on paintings. Light refreshments will be served. Planter’s will be selling wine & beer by the glass. This is free and open to the public.
The following artists will be displaying artworks for auction: John Agnew, Cincinnati, OH; Luke Buck, Nineveh, IN; DeVere Burt, Cincinnati, OH;, Jeff Gandert,Maineville, OH; Mel Garbark, Benton, KY; Ann Geise, Batavia, OH; John Ruthven, Cincinnati, OH; Rachelle Siegrist, Wes Siegrist Townsend, TN and Diane Ubhelhor-Wunderlich, Newburgh, IN.
Come Celebrate the 200th Anniversary Landing of John James Audubon Henderson, Kentucky John James Audubon arrived in the river town of Henderson, Kentucky in 1810 with his wife and infant son, determined to make his fortune. As a businessman, he met with some initial success, and in 1816 he undertook his most ambitious project to date, building a steam-powered saw-and-grist-mill in the city on the banks of the Ohio River. Audubon loved the frontier spirit in Henderson, and throughout his years there, he roamed the woods, observing and painting the many species of birds abundant in the area.
Audubon’s skills as an artist grew during his years in Kentucky, despite his collection of work suffering a serious setback. Every year on his birthday he would edit his work and destroy all that were not up to his current standards. Many of those that he did keep were destroyed when, during a long family absence from Henderson, rodents built a nest in the box where his work was stored. Audubon later stated this event forced him to replace the works with ones utilizing a much better technique. His technique would later garner great acclaim as his work gained prominence.
Audubon ultimately lived in Henderson for nine years, longer than anywhere else in the United States, during which two of his four children were born. Baby Lucy is buried there. In 1819, his saw-and-grist-mill failed, but his passion for capturing the area’s abundant wildlife would encourage a new business pursuit upon his family’s departure from Henderson. He went on to publish his ornithological works in the masterpiece, “The Birds of America.”
Present-day Henderson, Kentucky boasts the John James Audubon State Park & Museum, where Audubon’s life is interpreted through his art and personal memorabilia, framed within a timeline of world events. The museum also pays homage to its namesake through its Nature Center, which is comprised of three areas: a wildlife Observation Room; the Discovery Center with hands-on exhibits; and the Learning Center, where the park naturalist and art educator conduct environmental and art programs. Henderson’s position on the Mississippi Flyway migration route also offers visitors the chance to take part in many of the same spectacular birdwatching opportunities that Audubon enjoyed, both at the park and at the nearby 10,000 acre Sloughs Wildlife Management Area, a National Audubon Society Important Birding Area.
In celebration of the bicentennial of Audubon’s 1810 arrival in Henderson County, the Friends of Audubon, Ohio Valley Art League and the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources are planning a full slate of events.
2009 • Audubon in Henderson : A Bicentennial Celebration • All rights reserved
