Hey all, I have some exciting news this Monday morning!

On May 1 of Kentucky Derby week, the Frazier History Museum is partnering with Churchill Downs to make Thurby a Cool Kentucky day at the track.

Twin Spires at Churchill Downs. Credit: Churchill Downs.

As many of you know, Cool Kentucky is a permanent exhibition in the Frazier Museum’s Great Hall, featuring everything that is cool about our Commonwealth. And c’mon, folks, the Bluegrass State is dripping in frosty: from Dippin’ Dots to Ale-8-One, from an iced Old Forester Bourbon to the tranquility of Jack Harlow, Kentucky is way cool!

For those reasons and so many more, we’re thrilled to work with our friends at Churchill Downs to bring those stories, musicians, magicians, explorers, artists, and entertainers to the track on Thursday of Derby week. Think disco ball photo ops, an ear X-tacy store recreation, and screen-printing presses right on site, just a stone’s throw from the iconic Twin Spires.

In today’s issue of Frazier Weekly, our education team is offering an open house this Saturday for parents interested in getting to know the outstanding folks who run our spring and summer camps (brilliant!). We share an amazing 120: Cool KY Counties story from Leitchfield, Grayson County, with a close connection to Dungeons & Dragons. All February, we’re adapting guided tours for Black History Month. Plus, it’s your last chance to order a LucKY in Love horseshoe ahead of Valentine’s Day.

And don’t forget: Hometown Tourist Celebration has already begun! From February 1 to 10, the Frazier is offering half-off admission if you show a valid Kentucky or Indiana ID, local college ID, or military ID.

Enjoy!

From the Collections: ear X-tacy Sign

The ear X-tacy sign on display in the Frazier’s Entertaining Kentucky gallery, November 5, 2024.

As part of this year’s Cool Kentucky–themed Thurby, attendees can enjoy a tribute to ear X-tacy and its founder John Timmons!

Many of you music fans, native Louisvillians, and long-term residents might remember ear X-tacy. Opened in 1985 by John Timmons, this record store became the place to find the best music had to offer.

Starting in a small 550-square-foot shop, it expanded to a large 1,500-square-foot store in the heart of Louisville. Ear X-tacy not only sold music—it became a place to gather and listen to intimate live performances, by local and national bands. However, with the advent of music streaming, ear X-tacy started its decline until it permanently closed in 2011. Today, you can still see remnants of the famous bumper stickers the store sold (sidenote: we sell ear X-tacy bumper stickers in our Museum Shop!). But you can’t stop the music, and you can’t stop the memories that live on in the one object left from the brick and mortar store: the sign.

Today from the collection, we highlight the ear X-tacy store sign. That’s right: it’s hanging up and shining in the Entertaining Kentucky gallery in our Cool Kentucky exhibition. The Frazier has been the home of the ear X-tacy sign since the fall of 2019 when store owner John Timmons loaned it to us for our Celebrating the Sounds of Kentucky exhibition. When the exhibition closed, Timmons donated the sign to our collection. Now, we can keep the story living on.

Frazier Education Team to Host Camps Open House Saturday, February 8

Are you looking for a children’s camp but unsure where to start? Are you overwhelmed by the abundance of Louisville’s youth programs? Do you love the Frazier Museum and dream of a way for your kids to spend an entire week playing and learning in the cultural tapestry and artistic bounty of these halls? Then join us on February 8 for an open house all about seasonal camps at the Frazier!

Families can come to the open house for free starting at 10:30 a.m., which will include a guided museum tour at 11 and a special presentation from Mick Sullivan at 12 p.m. that uses live and recorded music, visual imagery, and moving storytelling to share the story of John Banvard, an artist who painted the “longest painting in the world” while living in Louisville in the 1840s.

Meet me and the rest of the education staff that will lead our upcoming Spring Break and Summer camps. Join a guided tour of the museum and see the exhibitions and the stories that will be featured in camp activities. See a live musical history performance like the ones we present to children year-round. Then hang out for a game of mancala, build a Lego dinosaur in our education center, and meet Ponk, the Frazier Museum’s Axolotl.

We hope you’ll leave with all your questions answered and something to look forward to in seasonal camps at the Frazier.

Register to attend here.

Frazier to Adapt Guided Tours in February for Black History Month

Monday through Saturday, the Frazier offers three tours each day for the general public. While the themes rotate, the times are consistent (11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m.), and the approach is the same—we want to bring a few stories to life in a memorable way for anyone who joins. When you visit during February, you’ll hear a story about a remarkable Black Kentuckian on any tour you join. From Stephen Bishop to Garrett Morgan to Mary Meachum and more, we tell these stories every day of the year and would love to share them with you during Black History Month! Secure your admission tickets today.

Highlights of 120: Grayson County: Dungeons & Dragons Artist Larry Elmore

The Frazier believes that every Kentucky county possesses unique and incredible stories that shaped our past and inform our future. This conviction led to our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit, which has collected hundreds of stories from across the Commonwealth—including histories, legends, songs, and oral traditions. I was fortunate to accompany my colleague, Mick Sullivan, on a trip to Grayson County to interview a Leitchfield native who shaped the fantasy world of Dungeons & Dragons with his incomparable oil paintings during his tenure with TSR, Inc. in the 1980s.

At first glance, Larry Elmore is an ordinary Kentuckian. Like many of us who grew up before technology was a quotidian fact of life, Larry has memories of running wild in the woods, staying out until the sun went down, and accomplishing the kind of dangerous, boyhood stunts that put the fear of God into the youngster. Later in life, the rolling hills, trickling streams, and craggy rock formations of his childhood would manifest in the artwork he produced for the creators of a new strategy wargame called Dungeons & Dragons. Larry relocated from Leitchfield, Kentucky, to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in 1981 and quickly settled into his dream job producing fantasy artwork for TSR, Inc. During our interview with Larry in November 2024, he recalled how unique working for the company was and how unfettered he felt artistically. He worked long, often irregular, hours, but he was thriving doing something he loved.

Not everyone is lucky enough to say that their life’s work was a labor of love. For me, researching Larry and visiting him and his wife in Leitchfield for the Frazier was a way for me to achieve a dream come true and meet a celebrity who, unbeknownst to him, has had such an impact on my life. I would like to emphasize the scope of the impact that Dungeons & Dragons and Larry and his colleagues’ fantasy art has had on generations of people around the world who play TTRPGs, consume fantasy nonfiction and media, and use collaborative storytelling for creative and therapeutic purposes. While originally a male-dominant hobby, today D&D has grown to become more diverse and inclusive to reflect broader social shifts. Teachers use D&D to teach history, math, creative writing, and problem-solving.

When we think about the mission of our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit to identify and record the stories of Kentuckians living amongst us who have left a legacy and cultural impact, Larry’s story and the influence of his artwork is something that we can all feel so proud of and connected to. It is our rivers, quarries, and plateaus that form the backdrop to Larry’s magical, fantasy world. So, in a sense, Kentucky has left its own mark on the fictional world of Dungeons & Dragons.

You can watch our interview with Larry Elmore in our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit on the first floor of the museum or online.

Museum Shop: Last Chance to Order Your LucKY in Love Horseshoe!

Time is running out to order your LucKY in Love Valentine Horseshoe for shipping! Don’t miss your chance to give a unique, Kentucky-inspired keepsake to someone special. Order now before it’s too late!

Looking for an unforgettable Valentine’s experience? Treat your Valentine (or yourself!) to a “Kentucky Hug” Bourbon tasting at the Frazier. This guided tasting features an all-Kentucky lineup of Bourbons, paired with rich history and storytelling. Plus, your ticket includes museum admission! As a bonus, enjoy $2 off tastings on February 13, 14, and 15.

Act fast—Valentine’s Day is almost here!

Frazier Displayed Kansas City Chiefs–Themed Tree in Lights on Main

The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles face off this Sunday in Super Bowl LIX!

Naturally, we wondered: Are there any Kentucky connections to this Super Bowl we can spotlight in Frazier Weekly?

Aside from two Eagles who played college ball in this state—U of L alum Mekhi Becton and former Kentucky Wildcat Darian Kinnard—we drew a blank.

However, I remembered one of the trees in our 2024 holiday exhibition Lights on Main: the Evers, Jones, and Martin families sponsored a tree and decorated it entirely in Kansas City Chiefs miscellanea.

But why the Chiefs?

“Our family is from a small town in Missouri,” Chauncey Martin told me over email. “My siblings and I were born into “Chiefdom” and have always been huge Chiefs fans, which might seem easy now, but we had never seen a Super Bowl with our team in our entire lives until 2020.”

So how did they end up in Kentucky?

“My parents [the Martins] relocated here after my father took a job with GE in 2005,” Chauncey said. “While visiting them from Colorado in 2007, my sister met her now husband [the Joneses]. While visiting my parents and sister, my husband and I [the Everses] decided to relocate our family here up from Florida in 2018. While visiting all of us from Colorado, my brother and his wife [the Martins] followed suit in 2019. Ironically, the only Super Bowls we have watched the Chiefs at has been from our homes here in Kentucky!”

Finally, I asked Chauncey why she and her family chose to support Lights on Main.

“We all obviously love Kentucky and so we wanted to bring all the things we love together: Kentucky, Chiefs, Christmas trees, and of course, supporting our community through IWRBR and Frazier History Museum. Lights on Main has always been a part of our family holiday tradition since its inception with IWRBR. When IWRBR and Frazier History Museum partnered for Lights on Main, we were thrilled that an event we love so much became a part of a place we all love be. Though we have been involved in and supported Lights on Main historically, this is the first year our families have sponsored a tree. We wanted to be a bigger part of giving to our community (albeit with a little bit of our family flair). We also did the Harry Potter tree—our family has a love for that too!”

History All Around Us

Historical Marker at U of L’s Gottschalk Hall to be Unveiled Thursday

You’re invited to a historical marker unveiling Thursday, February 6, 3 p.m., at the University of Louisville.

The U of L History Department and representatives of the College of Arts and Sciences and supporters will gather to acknowledge the history of the building that is now named Gottschalk Hall. It was the Black Girls’ dormitory of the School of Industrial Reform. The marker will also honor the building’s namesake, noted historian Louis Gottschalk, who taught at U of L from 1923 to 1927.

There will be several speakers from U of L and actors performing a monologue and musical number from the play Broken Wings Still Fly.

Cool Kentucky Thurby, ear X-tacy Sign, Grayson County’s Dungeons & Dragons Artist, and More

Love & Marriage Exhibition, Origin of Lincoln Logs, Horse Cave’s Harlem Globetrotters, and More

Hometown Tourist Celebration, Oksana Masters and Teddy Abrams Banners, Holocaust Survivor in Floyd County, and More