Mick Jeffries
Lexington artist Alice Leininger lives in a 100-year-old house. No doubt many have walked into the home’s large front hall and have seen different home décor over the past century. But it’s safe to say that never before has there been a 6-foot fiberglass horse gracing its historical floors.
While it’s odd to have such a large object there, the hall’s roominess accommodates Leininger’s work to paint a horse for LexArts’ Horse Mania 2022. “I live in an old house, so they used to make the big front halls,” Leininger said. “I’ve got plenty of room in there.”
Leininger is one of dozens of artists selected to paint sponsored horses that will be on display throughout Lexington through December. “I saw [last year] that they were taking submissions to paint horses, and I thought of how much fun it would be,” she said. “So, I got busy and submitted three designs. I was absolutely surprised when I ended up being notified that” one had been selected.
Horse Mania sponsors pay $7,500 per horse, and that sponsorship allows them to pick the design they want for their horse. More than 160 horses will be displayed at various locations throughout the city. Then, if sponsors don’t pony up another $7,500 to purchase the statue, the horses will go on the auction block in December at Keeneland.
“Our painted horses come out, and all of our bidders get to be in that space and have fun and bid on horses as if you were buying a racehorse—a Thoroughbred—in that ring, which is really fun,” said LexArts President and CEO Ame Sweetall. “It’s a good play on the horse industry and art sector merging.”
Mick Jeffries
Money raised from the auction goes back to LexArts to help fund its mission of promoting arts in the community.
Sweetall said it’s a win-win for everyone. “We’ve engaged the corporate community, and we’ve gotten them involved in supporting the arts and local artists,” she said. “Then, artists are doing artwork that’s going to be included in a very public art exhibit.”
Their artwork will join horses from two previous Horse Manias—in 2000 and 2010. Sweetall said the COVID-19 pandemic prevented Horse Mania from returning in 2020, so LexArts moved it to 2022 to coincide with the organization’s 50th anniversary and November’s Breeders’ Cup hosted by Keeneland Race Course.
“People who drive around and visit Lexington have enjoyed seeing these horses out on the streets for 22 years,” Sweetall said. “The artists themselves find this to be an honor to be able to participate in such a really public and iconic art exhibit.”
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Leininger, who owns stationery company Rose Street Design, began to expand her artistic skills about 10 years ago. Her oil and watercolor paintings have been exhibited at Artists’ Attic Galleries and Studios and at Kentucky Watercolor Society’s AquaVenture 2022. Working with the horse will be her first time dealing with an outdoor acrylic medium. “It’s a fascinating process … and it’s been a learning experience for me,” she said.
One of Leininger’s submitted designs was of Lexington’s iconic Big Lex—a blue rendition of the 19th century racehorse and stallion Lexington painted by renowned equine artist Edward Troye. Signs sporting Big Lex are prevalent throughout the city. Leininger’s design caught the eye of VisitLEX, the city’s convention and visitors bureau and one of Horse Mania’s sponsors.
“Big Lex was really the last one I submitted,” Leininger said. “I thought, ‘I love that horse, so I’ll throw that in.’ In my submission, I said I was going to make it look as much like Big Lex as I could.”
It apparently did.
“Nearly 12 years ago, VisitLEX launched our beloved Big Lex icon and instantly fell in love with Alice Leininger’s design [when she submitted it last year],” said Mary Quinn Ramer, VisitLEX president.
So much so that VisitLEX bought the horse for permanent display. “Visitors and locals can find Big Lex on display at the Central Bank Center throughout Horse Mania,” Ramer said. “He will [then] have a permanent presence at the newly expanded Central Bank Center to welcome guests for years to come.”
Leininger, meanwhile, is thoroughly enjoying herself. “It’s a fun thing to be a part of, for sure,” she said. “That’s one thing about art. Art is like playing. You can do something different all the time, anytime you want.”