The Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce’s Chamber Young Professionals (CYP) developed an exciting new downtown public art partnership. This partnership celebrates Owensboro’s status as the Bluegrass Music Capital of the World. As part of this initiative, CYP invited local artists and artists from around the globe to submit original pieces for display outside the Bluegrass Hall of Fame & Museum. The goal is to enhance Owensboro’s downtown placemaking, inspired by the rich heritage of Bluegrass Music.
The partnership among the Bluegrass Music (Capital) Initiative, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, the City of Owensboro, and OWB Downtown LLC, showcases six carefully curated art pieces that honor the profound traditions and contemporary diversity of Bluegrass music. Each artwork contributes to a grand tribute, proudly displayed on the exterior of 214 Frederica Street, just across from the main entrance of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro.
The six-panel mural is approximately 73 feet wide and 16 feet tall, with each of the six panels spanning approximately six feet wide and 10 feet tall. Along with the recognition of their original pieces being on display for years in downtown Owensboro, each artist whose piece is chosen received a $1,000 award for their efforts.
Billy Strings
by Paula Gieske
An acrylic painting of Billy Strings on canvas playing bluegrass guitar. The work celebrates the artist’s love of art, bluegrass, and life.
Paula Gieseke is a professional artist from Christian County Kentucky. As a high school visual arts teacher, she has been sharing her love of art with her students for over twenty years. She provides art camps for students grades 1-12 and teaches art as a form of therapy classes for the local women’s shelter. She is an active member of the Western Kentucky Art Community and provides large scale murals and other commissioned pieces for the public and private sectors. She works with her partner Josh Warfield as owners of Blue Springs Art Studio in Cerulean, Kentucky.
Paula learned to follow her passions at an early age from her namesake, her father Paul. He was very creative and performed Bluegrass music with his band throughout the state of Kentucky. Paul was an army veteran, who found his true love in crafting instruments and teaching others how to play music.
With her father’s creativity and the love and support from her mother, Martha, Paula decided to pursue her passion for visual arts and received her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville TN. Her personal motto is “Make Everything Beautiful” and she not only practices that by beautifying her community, but she also encourages others to do the same. This piece, Billy Strings, celebrates Paula’s love of art, bluegrass, and life.
Bluegrass Legends
This Bluegrass Legends painting is originally done in acrylic paint, charcoal pencil, and modeling paste for texture. The top starts with Bill Monroe’s house then to the Bluegrass Boys. It then goes to Doc Watson and Arnold Shultz. The Bluegrass Museum is behind Flat and Scruggs and Ricky Skaggs. The background then fades into an old map of Kentucky with Del McCoury at the bottom. Bluegrass instruments then fill random spaces.
Originally hailing from Vero Beach, Florida, Brittany Samsil, started her art journey at the age of 6 with some help from her mother, an artist in her own right. Brittany Samsil—an artist and designer who believes that art should go beyond the frame. Her work lives where fine art and fashion meet, blending bold expression with meaningful connection.
Brittany creates original canvas paintings, hand-painted hats, and mixed media pieces using acrylic paint, charcoal pencil, and epoxy. Every piece she makes is deeply inspired by emotion and the world around her. Her surroundings, experiences and energy. Nothing is mass-produced or replicated. Every hat, every painting, every detail is made by hand, with intention.
Brittany’s style is bold, textured, and unapologetically unique. Some pieces are raw and emotional, others bright and full of movement—but all of them are meant to be felt. Whether you’re wearing one of her hats or hanging a canvas in your space, you’re carrying a story. A connection.
Art, to Brittany is personal. It’s power. And she is here to turn everyday life into something expressive and unforgettable.
Blue Moon Monroe
A digital portrait of “The Father of Bluegrass” Bill Monroe. His visage hangs over a view all too familiar to native Kentuckians, the foggy blue mountains with a full moon in the clear night sky – an homage to one of his most famous songs “Blue Moon of Kentucky.”
River of Music Party
by Rex Robinson
One of the many festive moments featuring early ROMP performers Reel Time Traveling at English Park in Owensboro by the Ohio river where it all started!
Rex W. Robinson is a nationally known visual artist with more than 50 years of producing mostly vivid acrylic paintings in three portfolios: National Wonders, Biblical Truths, and Commissions (including 140 murals) of which 100 originals are available at the Senior Community Center 1650 W 2nd St. His work is in numerous museum, corporate and private collections, and has received many awards including “Bluegrass Visual Artist” and “Best Bill Monroe” from the International Bluegrass Music Museum. Robinson is featured in many news and art publications including American Artist, Canvas Rebel, and Art Voices plus documented by KET, PBS, and Owensboro Public Schools Public Access. Several murals and 25 originals of the Mayor’s Christmas Card are at the Owensboro Science & History Museum.
Certified K-12 with MAE, WKU, and BAE, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Robinson has conducted 15 years as “Artist In Resident” for the Kentucky Arts Council, 14 years with Owensboro Public Schools, art workshops, and live painting exhibits as sermons across Kentucky and the South.
Bridging Traditions
by Amy Burgan
Acrylic painting of culturally diverse children representative of our population in Owensboro. Children are playing various bluegrass instruments. Allusion to the Blue Bridge in the background. Inspired by the great experience my own children had with Bluegrass lessons when they were young.
Amy Burgan has been planning art curriculum and integration for 27+ years.
She has a master’s degree in school administration and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education with an emphasis in arts and humanities. She also has an endorsement for gifted education. She taught in a public school for nearly 10 years. She also taught math and science curriculum courses as adjunct faculty for 15 years. She has created and sold her own art for 15+ years.
Golden Harmony: The Pillar of Bluegrass
by Adalynn Opal Leach
This stained-glass-style mural of Alison Krauss glows with vibrant hues, capturing her timeless grace and deep musical legacy. She stands as a radiant pillar of bluegrass, her flowing hair illuminated by golden light. Surrounding her, intricate sunflowers bloom, symbolizing warmth and growth. The stained-glass effect casts a luminous aura, blending tradition with elegance.
Adalynn Opal Leach was a visual arts student at Ohio County High School at the time of this painting. Her work was submitted on behalf of her father recognizing the wonderful talent and use of colors by his daughter. Adalynn was awarded a scholarship as a member of the Class of 2025 to the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts.