OMFA presenting 46th Holiday Forest Festival of Trees, Celebrate Kentucky exhibits

November 8, 2022 | 12:09 am

Updated November 7, 2022 | 7:18 pm

Festival of Trees | File photo by Ryan Richardson

The Owensboro Museum of Fine Art is again helping usher in the local Christmas season with the 46th Holiday Forest Festival of Trees, and the Celebrate Kentucky exhibition. There will be a preview gala at 6:30 p.m. November 12.

The Festival exhibit features 18 “monumental” Christmas trees and special decorations designed and created by local artists, florists and organizations. These interpret the exhibition Celebrate Kentucky, selected from the museum’s collection of more than 1,000 objects of works by artists with connections to the Commonwealth by birth, residence or education.

The gala will be highlighted by a talk and special music presented by noted Kentucky author, historian and TV personality Ted Franklin Belue, who will speak about Kentucky’s cultural traditions and perform early music of the Commonwealth.

Admission to the gala is $50 per person, discounted to $40 for subscribers to the OMFA Friends of the Foundation. 

Special trees designed to celebrate the cultural history of Kentucky created for the festival include the Owensboro Herb Society’s “Back Home in Kentucky;” Western Kentucky Basket Guild’s “Woven Together Tree;” glassmaker Linda House’s “A Stained Glass Tree;” and St. Stephen Cathedral’s “Chrismon Tree.” A collection of four trees were designed especially for the John Hampden Smith Decorative Arts Wing by Gary Tunget, formerly with Gary’s Fleur de Lis Florist.

The Holiday Forest Festival exhibit will remain on display through Dec. 31. Celebrate Kentucky will continue through February.

This holiday exhibition is the only time the OMFA charges an admission fee, which is $3 for adults and $1 for children. Museum hours are 12-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

November 8, 2022 | 12:09 am

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