Buffalo Festival and Paint Out at Owensboro Museum of Fine Art

Buffalo Festival and Paint Out at Owensboro Museum of Fine Art

A three day event will be highlighted by an exhibition under tents in the museum’s Ryan Park Saturday, September 25 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., where more than $3,000 in Merit and Purchase Awards will be presented for winning entries. The annual festival, presented by co-sponsors Swedish Match and Atmos Energy, will feature live entertainment “Pam and the Gang” led by former City Commissioner Pam Smith Wright.

            Artists may enter the Buffalo Paintout by completing the registration form found on the museum’s website omfa.us or by calling 270-685-3181.  Registration fee is $20 prior to September 15 and $35 after that date.

Admission to the September 25 Gala is $50 per person and Friends of the OMFA Foundation receive a $10 discount on their admission. For reservations, E-mail the museum at info@omfa.us or phone 270-685-3181.  Proceeds from the Gala will be designated to benefit the museum’s continuing education and outreach programs for the community and region.

            The Buffalo theme for the Festival and Paintout was inspired by the two heroic sized bronzes installed in the art museum’s Ryan Sculpture Park on Frederica Street between 9th and 10th Streets

            The bronzes were commissioned by the museum to create the Bronze Buffalo Trace designed to commemorate the origins of Owensboro.  Present day Frederica Street began as a buffalo trace through which settlers made their way to the banks of the Ohio River to establish the community which ultimately became Owensboro.

            The bronze buffalo sculpture “Into the Wind” and “Meadowlands Pair,” were gifts to the museum and the community from Mary Lou Steele and her late husband, Robert Steele, and former Mayor Ron Payne and his wife Denise.  The bronzes were created by the noted American wildlife sculptor T. D. Kelsey of Texas.

Museum hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Friday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.  Admission to the museum is  FREE although voluntary donations are suggested of $3.00 for adults and $2.00 for children.  Access for physically challenged individuals is provided at the Atrium entrance in the 9th Street parking lot.  

For more information, phone 270-685-3181 or visit the museum's website omfa.us or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.