When a friend of mine, the multi-talented Ardis Moonlight, said she had a photography show in downtown Louisville, I was like, If I can find it, I’m comin’. I adore her work! When she said it was at the Wayside Gallery in the Hotel Louisville at Second and Broadway, I was like Oh, HELL, yeah!
What is now the Hotel Louisville has gone through many owners and many names. At one time, the RiverCon science fiction convention took place there. I have many fond memories of that hotel. The most memorable memory: I shook Muhammad Ali’s hand in the lobby. I said, “How are ya, Champ?” He said, “I’m not the champ anymore.” I said, “You’ll always be the champ around here.”
Then my buddies Beth and Jane and I were in the elevator and Ali and his entourage got in. The elevator wouldn’t move. Somebody (I think it was Don King) read the weight limit and said, “Hell, Muhammad — YOU weigh that much.” And Ali said, “C’mon, let’s get out so these folks can get where they’re going.” And they did and we did.
ANYWAY, The Hotel Louisville was bought by Wayside Christian Mission, which is part of Louisville’s Coalition for the Homeless, as a shelter. But they needed funds for their missions, and non-homeless tourists kept trying to rent rooms. So they turned the Hotel Louisville into a dual-purpose facility, with formerly homeless folks living in part of it and staffing the hotel, and the rest of the property being a cafe, a hotel, an art gallery, and convention/meeting spaces.
In the hallway to the gallery, we saw four textile art pieces by Louisville artist Gayle Williamson. According to the Coalition for the Homeless’ press release:
The titles of the four tapestries are: “Noah’s Ark 3”, “Street People”, “Skid Row,” and “In the Garden”.
Gayle Williamson, an embroidery artist, earned undergraduate degrees from Bellarmine College and the University of Louisville. In 1997 she was awarded a Masters of Art degree in fiber art.
Gayle has received grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. She was awarded an Al Smith Fellowship by the Kentucky Arts Council for her work at Wayside Christian Mission.Gayle considers her work, “a calling from God.”
This one is Noah’s Ark 3.
My friend Ardis’ photographs were astounding! She sells prints, so I took no pictures of her work. All of them were wonderful; many of them were fantastic, and at least three of them were superlative. Really stunning closeups of plants and insects or other small critters.
I’m so lucky to know her!
A WRITING PROMPT BASED ON MY POST: A character goes somewhere for one purpose and finds wonderful surprises and/or memories.
MA
Dan Antion
December 21, 2017 at 8:34amYou snagged some great doors and windows!
Marian Allen
December 21, 2017 at 8:40amI’m a sucker for stained glass AND for tiny buildings AND for ironwork, so this was a real feast for me!
Norm 2.0
December 21, 2017 at 8:39amGotta love a nice revolving door and of course that Little Free Library is always a fave with me.
Thanks for your participation and your support this year Marian.
I wish you and yours all the best for 2018 – cheers 😀
Marian Allen
December 21, 2017 at 8:41amI will miss you during your break, Norm, but you deserve a nice rest. Thanks for masterminding the Thursday Doors. Best wishes for a happy Christmas and a New Year of only good.
Deborah
December 21, 2017 at 9:42pmThe door and staircase are lovely, but the stained glass windows! Swoon!
Marian Allen
December 22, 2017 at 10:06amAren’t they GORGEOUS? I’m a sucker for stained glass. 🙂
joey
December 22, 2017 at 11:07pmRight good fixin of visual treats! Love the Noah’s Ark 3. Fond of the painted pony and the free lil library, too 🙂
Marian Allen
December 23, 2017 at 8:20amLouisville did one of those “fiberglass animals all around town” things that were all the rage for a while. Some cities did cows, pigs, fish, sheep, owls, bears — Louisville did horses, of course. Oh, and Indiana did bison, remember? For our Bison-tenniel?
joey
December 23, 2017 at 6:32pmI do recall, still plenty of bison round town 🙂
Roy A Ackerman, PhD, EA
December 23, 2017 at 6:14pmThat is a great mission. I’ll add that hotel to my next Louisville itinerary.
Marian Allen
December 24, 2017 at 9:40amOh, do! I loved it when it was the RiverCon host hotel, and it still looks beautiful. It does have a honkin’ big cross on it, ’cause it IS a part of Wayside Christian Mission. Just sayin’.