Producer: Charlee Heaton Pagoulatos

From Bolivia to Boyle

artist Rudy Ayoroa

Rudy Ayoroa was born in Bolivia in 1927 and received formal art training there and in Argentina. He built an international reputation as a creator of prints and paintings as well as dynamic, abstract sculptural pieces—many of them literally “dynamic” because they were designed to move, sometimes with the aid of a small motor.

In 1981, Ayoroa moved to Danville. As he embraced his new Kentucky home, he became fascinated with local history, particularly the Civil War. His art took a turn toward the more realistic as he began a series of paintings and statues capturing key Kentucky Civil War figures and scenes, from Confederate raider John Hunt Morgan to the Battle of Perryville, which took place not far from his adopted home.

Kentucky Life visited Ayoroa in his Danville studio in 2003, a few months before his death later that year.

For an idea of the range of Ayoroa’s work, see these two online examples: Cube No. 1, a kinetic sculpture, and his statue of Union Gen. George H. Thomas, which stands in Lebanon’s town square.

For more information:
• Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum, Cumberland Gap Parkway, Harrogate, TN 37752, (423) 869-6439

Producer, videographer: Dave Shuffett

Lincolniana

Tennessee’s Lincoln Library and Museum

Every state where Abraham Lincoln ever lived celebrates its connections to the 16th president—including, of course, Kentucky, which claims him as a native son (despite a dissenting opinion or two on that score). But one of the largest collections of Lincoln-related material is in a state where Lincoln himself never resided.

The Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Harrogate, TN—near Cumberland Gap, in the area where Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee come together—houses an extensive collection of papers and personal artifacts, from correspondence to presidential memos to the cane Lincoln was carrying the night he was assassinated. It is located on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University, founded in 1897 by former Union Gen. Oliver Otis Howard. Remembering a conversation in which Lincoln told him how much he valued the loyalty of the East Tennessee mountaineers, Howard founded the school as a living memorial to the late president. Ironically, the site itself was once the plantation of a Confederate sympathizer.

From the start, LMU began acquiring various papers and items associated with its namesake, along with photos and documents telling the story of the Civil War. The collection grew to fill a room, then outgrew that room. In 1973, the university launched a fund-raising campaign for a separate museum building. Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Harland Sanders, an LMU trustee at the time, and his wife, Claudia, pledged the first half-million dollars.

On his visit to the Lincoln Museum and Library, host Dave Shuffett ponders the enduring legacy of the man who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most important figures in American history. Curator and Assistant Director Steven Wilson, Director Charles Hubbard, and Program and Tourism Director Carol Campbell show him around and talk about the museum’s holdings and research and education programs. The museum is open to the public seven days a week, while the library and archives are open Monday through Friday by appointment only.

For more information:
• Mammoth Cave National Park, P.O. Box 7, Mammoth Cave, KY 42259, (270) 758-2180

Natural Moments

Mammoth Cave National Park scenery

We end this episode with some peaceful scenes from Mammoth Cave National Park, which offers natural wonders both below and above the ground.