Current Exhibits
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KINKEAD GALLERY
Ben Wade
Much of Wade’s recent work has been digital. However, he has been careful to cultivate his own style which is as close to his traditional work as possible.
It is his sentiment that his generation is the last of the “Analog age”, a group who still holds the memories of a pre-digital, pre-AI world. Because of this, it is that generation’s responsibility to pass on the one element of art that cannot be recreated digitally; soul. Storytelling in his artwork, particularly from the lens as a mixed Asian-American, is the way that Wade intends to continue this mission.
November 22nd – February 2nd
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GLO GALLERY
Art by Nature: Monarch Waystations
"Art by Nature: Monarch Waystations," opening Friday, Oct. 18, at the Living Arts and Science Center, celebrates art inspired by monarch waystations across Fayette County, which support the monarchs' vital migration. The exhibit includes 131 pieces by 97 local artists, with works in digital art, photography, painting, and mixed media—many available for purchase.
Admission is free, and special events include a guided painting session on Oct. 26, LexArts HOP on Nov. 15, and the closing reception on Dec. 6. For more details, visit lexingtonky.gov/plantbynumbers.
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ATRIUM GALLERY
Vincent Whelan
Whelan’s work explores the complex relationship between addiction and the emotional landscapes it creates—moments of desire, decay, anticipation, and emptiness. Through layered imagery and stark contrasts, he aims to capture the cyclical nature of addiction, where fulfillment and despair coexist and feed off one another.
November 22nd - January 24th
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The Urban Art Collective Gallery
The Urban Art Collective designs culturally relevant programming that reflects the cultural heritage and lived experiences of diverse communities.
Permeant collection revolving every 6 months.
Ben Wade
Ben Wade is a visual artist from Louisville, KY. Although he has been drawing since he could hold a crayon to the wall, he has been taking art seriously as a career and way of life since 2016.
While working as an Editorial Cartoonist for The Kentucky Kernel, and as an intern for local company Kentucky for Kentucky, he found a passion for working with musicians creating album covers. This played perfectly into his love for storytelling in artwork. His early inspirations being Norman Rockwell and Michelangelo, as well as his father being a writer, compelled him to prioritize storytelling in his artwork.
Wade’s mother is from Taiwan and raised him to respect both sides he comes from. From an early age, he began to understand the beauty in the differences between cultures and that different ways of life work for different people.
A majority of the musicians that Wade worked with and currently works with are in the hip hop genre. Early on, he found great value in the concept of adding elements of Asian culture into his artwork for hip hop artists. There is a deep history of Asian culture being depicted or remixed in hip hop that went hand in hand with Wade’s propensity for depicting scenes that bring a variety of cultural elements into one.
Ben Wade’s work will be on display in the Kinkead Gallery from November 22nd to February 2nd.
Vincent Whelan
Whelan is an educator with a strong foundation in the arts and humanities, holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking, a Bachelor of Arts in English, and a minor in Art History from Eastern Kentucky University, where he graduated in 2018. He also earned his Master of Arts Teaching from EKU in 2021. Currently teaching Freshman Seminar at Southern High School in Jefferson County, Kentucky, Whelan blends his creative background with a student-centered approach to help freshmen develop essential success skills. Living in Shepherdsville, KY, with his wife, Kaylie, and their two young children, Kinsley and Jude, Whelan is a Kentucky Colonel and is pursuing advanced studies in leadership at the University of the Cumberlands.
The compositions of his works invite viewers to confront the hidden, often contradictory emotions that lie beneath the surface, evoking the unsteady tension between attraction and repulsion. He aims to create a space for reflection where personal struggles can be hidden and revealed, allowing viewers to interpret and connect with these universal themes in their own way.
Vincent Whelan’s work will be on display in the Atrium Gallery from November 22nd to January 24th.