Paducah Wall to Wall Book P

ADUCAH WALL TO WALL IS A NEW FULL-COLOR, paperback compilation of the magnificent three blocks of Dafford murals on Paducah’s downtown floodwall. This colorful publication is dedicated to former Paducah Mayor Gerry Biggs Montgomery. “Mayor Montgomery has served on the board since its inception in 1996,” explains Ro Morse. “Her visionary leadership has been priceless.”

On the cover, Mayor Montgomery is standing on the riverfront with the redcoated Paducah Ambassadors as they “greet the queens.” On July 2, 1996 all three paddle wheelers docked at the Port of Paducah. Mayor Montgomery created the Paducah Ambassador organization during her term, and today the all-volunteer organization continues to welcome visitors from far and near.

“Nathan Brown has done a beautiful job photographing and designing this new compilation of Dafford mural images,” adds Ro, the project’s coordinator. “We are thrilled to share this book with locals and visitors for only $10 each. All proceeds will benefit future mural maintenance.”

“I am so happy to have the opportunity to work on this new project for Paducah Wall to Wall,” says Nathan Brown. “I have been involved with the Dafford murals project from near the very beginning, as I worked on the original photography and image scanning back in the 1990’s as a young graphic designer. I was even honored to help Robert Dafford with the design of the title panel when I was in my early 20’s. It was a joy to design the cover art for the original book, published in 2008, and it feels great to be able to create this new layout almost 12 years later.”

The all-volunteer Wall to Wall non-profit group has worked together with Dafford muralists to research, design and provide sponsorships since the creation of the project in 1996. Now the children and grandchildren of these original board members are insuring the integrity of this popular 24/7 public art history project is maintained. “In our UNESCO creative city, this ribbon of art along our downtown floodwall captures life sized images of Paducah life.”

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by J.T. C RAWFORD