Lexington Legacy Trail Public Art Plan
The Legacy Trail public art plan combines actionable project types with keen sense of the client’s desire for public art to tell the story of the lands it is passing through, with innovative projects that also announce the presence of this new community resource.
Date | 2010
Client | Bluegrass Community Foundation
Collaborators | Stacy Levy
The “Legacy Trail” was constructed as part of Lexington’s preparations for the 2010 World Equestrian Games. It connects downtown Lexington with the Kentucky Horse Park and cuts through farmland and horse pastures that are rarely experienced except by people driving by in cars.
Todd W. Bressi, working with artist Stacy Levy, was commissioned to create a master plan for public art along the trail that considered, among other things, how the trail could reveal the region’s remarkable cultural history through an “outdoor museum” approach.
Since time and funding for art were limited, the plan was organized as an actionable set of immediate projects, then a long-term for incoporating additional projects .
The initial phase of simple artworks were planned explore the interaction between the trail and the landscape, to help trail users learn about the places they were passing through, and the region a large to see the path of the trail.
Trail organizers commissioned and installed artist-designed crossings where the trail intersects with major roads, and “blazes” located strategically along the trail, so people driving by can see the trail, and so users can see where the trail leads through the countryside. On the trail itself, artists painted “tapis” that explore the region’s history and mark locations where permanent artworks might one day be placed. Trail supporters raised $110,000 for the artworks.
Future phases will include temporary exhibitions along the trail and permanent landmarks and infrastructure projects, which are identified in the plan.
