THE IMPACT OF BROADBAND: MAKERS EDITION
Ice House Gallery
MORE THAN 85 ARTISTS DISPLAY THEIR WORK BY LISA SAVAGE
N
anc Gunn always loved to sew. Growing up in Alaska, she made her high school’s ski team uniforms and worked on many other projects. But she had never sewn a quilt when she and her husband moved to Kentucky nine years ago. After a visit to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, she fell in love with the art form. “I just knew I had to learn how to quilt,” Gunn says. She joined a quilt guild and honed her skills. Two years ago, she started her own art quilt and pattern business and visited the Ice House Gallery to sell the quilts and patterns. “I came in and fell in love with this place,” she says. Now, she serves as director of the Ice House Gallery, home of the Mayfield/Graves County Art Guild. Gunn visited the gallery as often as she could once she discovered everything it has to offer. It provides a place for exhibitions, classes, events, art festivals, and book signings, and it’s located in Mayfield’s historic ice house. The Mayfield/Graves County Tourism Commission bought the ice house in 1990, and it became home for the art guild and gallery in 1997. It would be difficult for the nonprofit organization to function without the tourism commission’s donation, Gunn says. “We’re able to stay here rent-free,” she says. “If we had to pay mortgage or rent, we wouldn’t be able to stay open.”
A PLACE TO CALL HOME About 85 artists from the region display and sell their creations in the gift shop, which saves them the cost of setting up their own stores. “We have some of the 12 | July/August 2019
Nanc Gunn makes quilt patterns of pets and has them displayed in the gallery.
finest artists in the area — all here in one location,” Gunn says. At least 10 shows each year attract visitors to the gallery from near and far, and there’s always some kind of class scheduled, Gunn says. The popular Gourd Patch Festival on Sept. 21 began 15 years ago and continues to be one of the most popular draws. This is the first year for the Demonstrations Fair on July 4, but Gunn expects it will attract many visitors. It allows artists to display various skills like painting, pottery, knitting and stained glass.
Quilted dolls and other items are one display at the Ice House Gallery.
www.icehousearts.org Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is free. 120 N. 8th St., Mayfield WK&T Telecommunications Cooperative
