OMFA to present 45th annual Holiday Forest Festival of Trees
Nov. 6—Owensboro Museum of Fine Art's 45th annual Holiday Forest Festival of Trees will kick off with a preview gala on Saturday, Nov. 13.
The Festival of Trees is being presented alongside the museum's Art from the Heart exhibition, which includes about 300 objects of folk and outsider art. Artists represented in the exhibition are folk artists of the mid to late 20th century, including Howard Finster, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Mose Tolliver and S.L. Jones, from the southeastern states. Kentuckians including Edgar Tolson, Minnie and Garland Adkins, Ronald and Jessie Cooper, Charley and Noah Kinney, Tim Lewis and Denzil Goodpaster also will be represented.
The collection of items was acquired to showcase the diversity and creativity of contemporary artists and craftspeople working outside of the academic tradition, said OMFA Executive Director Mary Bryan Hood.
"It's a delightful exhibition because it is so lighthearted," she said. "It's a crowd-pleaser, there's no question about that. There will be something that everyone will enjoy seeing."
She said many of the pieces are humorous and seasonally-oriented, in that they do have a religious theme.
The Festival of Trees is one of Owensboro's oldest holiday traditions. This year it will feature 18 ornamental Christmas trees that have been designed and decorated by local artists, florists and organizations. Special trees will be decorated to celebrate the folk art tradition and will be designed by Allie Huffman's Burns Middle School students; the Owensboro Herb Society; the Western Kentucky Basket Guild; and St. Stephen Cathedral parishioners, who have created the "Crimson Tree" celebrating the origins of the season.
Four of the trees were designed especially for the John Hampden Smith Decorative Arts Wing by Gary Tunget, of Gary's Fleur de Lis Florist. A variety of trees will be drawn from the museum's holiday collection and include Mary Anderson Cayce's "Wreath Tree" and a grouping of "Goose Feather Trees" by JoAnne Hobbs, of Hodgenville, that are adorned with ornaments inspired by the art of Japanese Origami created by Mary Lou Steele.
Throughout the Holiday Forest Festival of Trees, there will also be participatory projects in ArtLand, the museum's interactive studio for children. Ornaments for the ArtLand tree can be made, as well as ornaments for area children to take home.
The Holiday Forest Festival of Trees will be on display through Dec. 31. The Art from the Heart exhibition will continue through Feb. 18, 2022.
The Holiday Forest and exhibition preview gala will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at the museum. The gala will feature holiday cuisine and entertainment by bluegrass band Kings Highway. Admission is $50 per person, discounted to $40 for subscribers to the OMFA Friends of the Foundation.
Reservations for the gala may be made by contacting the OMFA at 270-685-3181 or info@omfa.us, or by visiting www.omfa.us.
In accordance with recommendations by government health officials, guests will be asked to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result in the three days prior to Nov. 13.
The Holiday Forest and Gala are sponsored by Glenmore Distillery, which has been the traditional patron of the festival since its inception.
The Art of the Heart exhibition is sponsored by Swedish Match.
Bobbie Hayse, bhayse@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7315
