This time-lapse video features the creation of a "buon" fresco mural painted under the guidance of Michael Nichols at the Kentucky Museum during the summer of 2021. Artist Alice Gatewood Waddell created the mural's imagery, which reflects the history of the Jonesville community. Located near the Kentucky Museum, Jonesville was a small black community established by freed slaves after the Civil War. It was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the expansion of the WKU campus .
The ancient process of buon fresco is a technique of painting into wet plaster. Praised for it's permanence, it is literally a way of painting into stone. Fresco has been used throughout history in works that have survived as far back as the Ancient Minoans (1500 bce). It's most notable use was by Michelangelo in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The chemical process of fresco will ensure that Waddell's Jonesville image becomes a permanent part of the Kentucky Museum.
To learn more about the Jonvesville fresco, please visit the link below: Kentucky Museum
Project Contributors: Artwork by Alice Gatewood Waddell; Fresco Interns: Aiasha Salifu, Riley O'loane, and Cecilia Morris; Funding generously provided by a Carpenter Foundation Grant; Support provided by the Kentucky Museum; Fresco Direction by Michael Nichols (WKU Department of Art and Design)