Although the Woman’s Club of Paducah is ending due to lack of membership, it hopes to continue the legacy of promoting arts education in the region through the donation of over 100 wooden art easels to area schools and non-profit groups.
A chance meeting began the journey of finding a new home for the art easels.
“After the tornado the Mayfield art guild had to find a place to do their shows and Paducah City Hall was gracious enough to let us show there,” said Joyce Ray, whose husband, Mark is on the board of the Mayfield/Graves County Art Guild (MGCAG). “Nancy Gunn, the former director of the MGCAG, met Kathleen McMahan, the president of the Woman’s Club of Paducah. She told Nancy about the dissolving of the club and asked if she knew of anyone needing easels. Nancy said the MGCAG could use some, so she asked Mark and me if we would go with her to pick them up.”
That began a collaboration between McMahan and the Rays to find new homes for the easels. Today, over 100 easels have been donated to Graves County Schools, McNabb Elementary School, Northside Christian School, Community Christian Academy, The Mayfield-Graves County Art Guild, the Easter Seals Center, and McCracken County Schools.
The Woman’s Club of Paducah began an Annual Art Show in 1935. It was held every year since then except for the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
“We are grateful to Joyce and Mark Ray, who were nice enough to donate their time to contact the schools to inquire about who could use the easels, and then deliver them to the schools,” said Paducah Women’s Club President Kathleen McMahan. “The Woman's Club of Paducah has been the only art show in the area to include K-12 student art. It has always been our goal to encourage students to continue to improve their talent by offering them a place to display their work. We are so excited that the young artists in our area will be able to make use of the easels.”