The outgoing leader of a mainstay Lexington arts organization would like to see public art continue to flourish. Lexarts President Jim Clark announced his plans Friday to step down the end of June. While admitting he has no concrete future plans, Clark hopes consistent financial support for public art can be realized over time.
“And I think there’s a lot going on in Lexington in terms of public arts and maybe we need to create a structure to provide more stable support for that as opposed to going from one project to another in sort of episodic fashion,” said Clark.
Clark headed the arts umbrella organization during the second round of horsemania. Brightly painted fiberglass horses were showcased on many street corners in 2010, the summer before the World Equestrian Games. He admits horsemania provided a good financial shot in the arm for the arts.
“Sometimes I wonder where we would be had we not done horsemania, because that was in 2009, 2010, which was the worst part of the crisis, the financial crisis,” added Clark.
Clark says proceeds from the horsemania auction not only went to artists, but also to a number of social service non profit groups. Today, in the bluegrass community, decorated bourbon barrels dot the downtown streetscape.