A colorful museum with an unusual mission just opened in the Louisville area. Here's where

Walking into The Cheeky Museum of Contemporary Art + Culture, visitors are greeted by two hot pink Grecian statues that look as if they're holding up the lamps they're attached to.

Blue, green, yellow and pink coat the walls, creating a bright and airy space with large windows overlooking Main Street in downtown La Grange. It's so new, the smell of paint still lingers faintly in the main gallery.

Far and away, the museum is anything but the sterile gallery some might envision when the term "contemporary art" is heard. But in such a colorful and inviting place, a conversation with owner Heather Hottenroth soon shifts to loneliness – the kind that comes from living in a place where your passions seem different from the people around you.

That's the surprising goal among the exhibits at the new venue, located at 116 E. Main St.

Opened July 15, the museum's mission is to combat loneliness and improve well-being in its small-town home by inviting people to engage with all mediums of art.

Hottenroth envisions The Cheeky Museum as a place where community members can share and engage in their passions. By bringing people together through their interests, Hottenroth hopes to strengthen the local community.

"As a community leader, I meet so many people and learn about their interests, life situations and even their collections," she said by email. "I love to connect people through creative projects and watch them grow together."

Restored by Hottenroth, the historic building that houses the museum is split into four parts: galleries, a three-bedroom Airbnb, a community garden (called The Garden of Two Worlds) and Curious Buzz, an eatery and mixology bar.

Hottenroth said the word "cheeky" – a playful British term – describes the quality people need to be curious, bold and innovative.

She hopes the museum’s exhibits and events will break barriers to the creative process, for example by introducing visitors to established artists and offering space to collaborate.

Ideally, the museum will become a case study for other small towns seeking ways to bring people together.

The museum's first show will even let visitors get involved in curating its programs by asking them to vote for which experiences reflect their passions.

Hottenroth grew up in a small town in Texas, near NASA Space Center Houston. She moved to La Grange with her family about 20 years ago and retired to focus on the Cheeky Museum after a career working in corporate design.

Former chairperson of the La Grange Historic Districts Commission, Hottenroth was named one of Kentucky's four volunteers of the year in 2023 for her efforts leading AlleyLoop, a project to create a one-mile walking loop punctuated by murals throughout historic downtown La Grange.

Hottenroth didn’t want to create the museum in a place it wasn’t needed, but her work on AlleyLoop solidified that the La Grange community wanted a space to connect.

She has since stepped back from the historic commission to focus her efforts on The Cheeky Museum.

The museum is housed in a historic building Hottenroth bought in April 2020 and restored herself. She said she chose a property that needed intensive preservation work and was initially told the back of the building should be torn down.

Hottenroth has also renovated a few other buildings in La Grange, including the town's oldest wooden structure. And she wants to continue to find fresh ways to preserve and use old buildings.

The museum and eatery, Curious Buzz, are on the first floor of the building. A garden and patio area are behind the building.

The eatery is leased by George Parker, who only decided to launch the new business in the museum seven weeks prior to its opening, when a mutual friend introduced him to Hottenroth.

Parker is also a co-owner of Hive and Barrel Meadery in Crestwood and said he is excited by the possibilities the museum offers. The only set item on the menu is a charcuterie program. The rest of the menu will be a place for him to experiment with flavors and seasonal ingredients.

“I think people will always find something new,” Parker said.

About 90 percent of the products sold at the eatery are from women-owned businesses across the country. Parker and Hottenroth are planning to add mixology classes for both mocktails and cocktails once the property gets a liquor license.

Parker grinned with pride as he showed a photo of his daughter and the mocktail she had created a few days before. His first customer on the eatery's first day in business was an eleven-year-old, which he says perfectly fits the family-friendly, curiosity-driven spirit of the museum.

At its core, the museum is an experiment in what happens when a community is invited to create anything they can imagine. Like the museum itself, what they build is bound to be remarkable.

Reach reporter Kate Marijolovic at kmarijolovic@gannett.com or on Twitter @kmarijolovic.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: New Louisville-area museum is colorful with an unusual mission