MAYFIELD, KY — The art pieces on the wall in the Regions Bank lobby remind Jan Jones of the evening of Dec. 10, 2021, when an EF-4 tornado hit downtown Mayfield.

Jones, associate director of the Mayfield-Graves County Art Guild, known as the Ice House Gallery, sits in the gallery’s makeshift office, the door wide open. The office is accessible from the bank lobby.

One piece on display is an oil painting by Betty Whitlow that depicts the Hall Hotel, one of the last buildings standing downtown after the tornado. Another is an oil painting called “Tea Time” by Darleen Phipps, a painting that survived that night’s destruction.

The Ice House Gallery was on 1104 Paris Road in Mayfield, in the southeast corner of the tornado’s path. The tornado traveled northeast through downtown—directly hitting the Ice House Gallery.

The building consisted of the office gift shop, a work room and a gallery. They lost almost everything, including valuable artwork.

“We’re just kind of displaced,” Jones said. “We lost a lot of records—just little supplies that you take for granted.”

Every Thursday, independent painters from the community come to create artwork in a room across from the display. 

One of those painters is Mary Helen Boyd. She sits with an array of brushes in front of her, the small canvas she has chosen set to the side.

It was surreal. You know, half the town’s gone. …It was just hard to be in there and see it, and I’m still not over it. I don’t think we’ll ever be over it.

Jan Jones, associate director of the Ice House Gallery

“In a lot of ways, [the gallery] can be replaced…because it was the people…but that building was unique,” Boyd said.

When Jones visited the building after the night of the tornado, she had to decide what she wanted to take with her. The only thing she could think to take was a milk crate-like object full of gourds that were used for the children to paint.

“It was surreal,” Jones said. “You know, half the town’s gone. …It was just hard to be in there and see it, and I’m still not over it. I don’t think we’ll ever be over it.”

Community performing arts center exceeds sponsorship goal

Across town, ten months after the tornado damaged their building, the members of Purchase Players are rehearsing for their October production of “Murder on the Orient Express.”

Purchase Players made its first comeback on June 10, the six-month anniversary of the tornado, with a children’s production of “The Jungle Book.”

“It was amazing…It was life,” Cox said. “There’s not really words to put into how good it felt to be back in our building and back to life and have the community support.”

During their summer showing of “The Spongebob Musical,” the members set out donation buckets to collect funds for Appalshop, a media, arts and education center in Whitesburg, Kentucky that was damaged during historic flooding in July.

Nate Cox, the board president, said they wanted to “pay it forward.”

“That’s something that we focused on a lot…because, you know, it was really dark that first weekend,” Cox said. “We didn’t know… if we were gonna make it because we just, you know, we just barely came through COVID. And it was nice to have…the community reach out that first weekend, so that’s something we wanted to do.”

On the night of the tornado, the Purchase Players was performing “A Christmas Carol.”

After much debate, research and consultation with a Mayfield firefighter, Cox said they decided to run the show. 

“[During COVID-19], the theaters were just dead… We didn’t qualify for any of the government assistance that would help,” Cox said. “We were just in a bad spot, and we needed to run the show.” 

The show started at 7 p.m. The show takes about an hour and a half to run, without intermission, which the board decided to skip.

One of the board members is a retired National Weather Service employee. Her former colleagues informed her no one should be in the building after 9:15 p.m.

They had everyone out of the building by about 8:27 p.m., when the show ended, Cox said.

When Cox saw the building after the tornado, he could see that it was “puffed up like a marshmallow.”

Compared to the Ice House Gallery’s original building, Purchase Players is on 302 W Water St., about 1.5 miles to the northwest.

The theater has no windows, so Cox said pressure built up inside the building, causing it to expand. A tree punctured the back wall and released the pressure, so the building was not lost but was still severely damaged.

Insurance covered the building’s repairs, but the board still needs funds for licensing shows, for production costs and to recover from COVID-19.

The theater relies on volunteers. When the tornado hit, churches, Rotary clubs and other organizations with multiple branches sent funds to their Mayfield locations.

However, Purchase Players, an independent theater, had to rely on grants and gifts, Cox said. Purchase Players had just started its sponsorship drive for 2022-23 when the tornado hit, so it didn’t have any sponsors for this season.

Instead, the theater received grants from the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, from the Kentucky Arts Council and from the Mayfield Rotary Club. Cox also received a surprise call in January—with news that the theater was the recipient of an estate gift from a patron that had passed away in July 2021.

“It just so happened that it cleared, and we got that check in January,” Cox said. “That’s kind of what kept us going.”

The board decided to ask patrons to help sponsor the theater instead of asking local businesses. Now, the board is at twice of what its original goal was, Cox said.

“Our community members have responded. …Everybody really wants to help,” Cox said.

Ice House Gallery continues with recovery efforts

The board at the Ice House Gallery felt similar sentiments, Jones said.

The gallery now hosts its classes in two different locations: the Graves County Public Library and the Graves County Cooperative Extension Service, the same location it hosted the Gourd Patch Arts Festival in mid-September. 

It’s just almost like there’s something in the water here that makes people want to create. It’s just important. It brings people together. …It’s just something that speaks to your soul.

Jan Jones, associate director of the Ice House Gallery

While the Gourd Patch Arts Festival is traditionally a fundraiser, Jones said it wasn’t like it has been in the past. 

“We did not want to go ask people for items or money to donate for our silent auction, which is a huge chunk of the money from the festival,” Jones said. “We just couldn’t, in good conscience, go ask enough people that had been hit…by COVID and then, you know, tornadoes, but every little bit helps.”

As a nonprofit, the gallery is funded primarily through memberships. Because its building was owned by the city, Jones said she feels like she doesn’t have much personal control over the situation. 

“You think you’re prepared, but you’re never prepared for what’s going to happen, and every scenario is different,” Jones said. “But you just can’t see into the future and you can’t, you know, behave differently than you have because it’s in the past.”

Though the gallery continues with its recovery efforts, Jones said classes are still filling up, just as they were pre-tornado.

“It’s just almost like there’s something in the water here that makes people want to create,” Jones said. “It’s just important. It brings people together. …It’s just something that speaks to your soul.”

Board member Beth Dobyns regards the gallery as a symbol of the importance of the arts.

“Having a place that encourages art of all kinds is a critical part of any community in my opinion,” Dobyns said. “We need to find a home for this organization as a locus for the encouragement and enjoyment of art in our town.”

To get involved with the gallery, those interested can become a member, take an art class or enter an art show.

The next art show will be the Impressions Art Show from Nov. 21 to Dec. 16 and will be viewable at Paducah City Hall on 300 S. 5th St. Entry dates are from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 18 and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Nov. 19. Categories include painting, photography, drawing, mixed media and 3D work.

The most important thing the gallery needs right now is a building, Jones said.

The gallery’s GoFundMe for that cause is linked here: gofundme.com/f/tornado-relief-for-mayfield-graves-co-art-guild?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer.

Purchase Players will perform “Murder on the Orient Express” from Oct. 21–23 and from Oct. 28–30. Tickets can be purchased here: purchaseplayers.com/index.html.