The Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce’s Chamber Young Professionals of Owensboro, KY, a city which has adopted a specific Bluegrass Music Initiative to entice bluegrass lovers to visit their community, will unveil their large-format, six-panel bluegrass mural project on May 17.
Owensboro is already the home of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, and the Kentucky Guitar Works @ the Center for Lutherie, where Faris Guitars is sited, and a new Bluegrass and Traditional Music program at the Owensboro Community and Technical College, headed up by Scott Napier. It had also been the initial location of the International Bluegrass Music Association, and hosted the first several IBMA conventions before it was moved to Louisville in 1997.
City leaders feel confident that they have a legitimate claim to officially declaring Owensboro as the Bluegrass Music Capital of the World, as they did in 2021, assisted by the fact the Bill Monroe’s birthplace in Rosine is less than 40 miles away.
It was as a part of this overall initiative that the Chamber Young Professionals issued a call for artists to submit ideas for an eight-panel, large-format installation downtown, opposite the Hall of Fame. Each of the six foot by eight foot panels will be original works of art reflecting the history and roots of bluegrass music, with each selected artist receiving a $1,000 commission.
The unveiling ceremony begins at 8:30 a.m. on May 17, with music from Scott Napier, Rick Faris, and the Capital Bluegrass Band, featuring students of Napier’s at the college. Then at 9:00, all in attendance will be among the first to see the public exposition of the new art exhibition.
The Bluegrass Hall of Fame & Museum is located at 214 Frederica Street in Owensboro, with the installation and unveiling across the street.
