MURRAY – When an E-F4 tornado ravaged downtown Mayfield, Kentucky, in 2021, a painting by esteemed artist Helen LaFrance was pummeled at the local Ice House Gallery, which was levelled by the storm.
The same tornado splintered solid beams and once-sturdy walls of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church, where a LaFrance mural of the Garden of Gethsemane barely survived the disaster.
Since then, due to the efforts of a dedicated community and the strategic vision and tireless fundraising of the Paducah Historic Preservation Group, the damaged works by LaFrance have been repaired. Moreover, a collection of her art is receiving long-overdue attention at an exhibition currently on view until February 27 at Murray State University’s Wrather Museum.
LaFrance was born in Graves County Nov. 2, 1919. She was barely out of the toddler stage when she discovered the power of the pencil, with help from her mother. According to Jayne Moore Waldrop’s biography of LaFrance, “She Remembered It All,” Helen’s mother “slipped a paintbrush between Helen’s fingers” and showed her how to use it.
Thus, at an early age, Helen learned “to make paints from plants like dandelions, from bright, shiny berries, and even from the bluing they used on laundry day.”
The LaFrance exhibition at the Wrather Museum lures visitors back to an age of gravel roads and open fields, old-time, rural settings including a cabbage patch, a country kitchen and a river baptism. In one nighttime scene, the excitement of a county fair plays out against a sprawling black sky. Nearby, a gigantic Ferris wheel offers a starlit adventure, while a fancy carousel features a carnival of fantastic animals suited to riders of every age.
For almost a hundred years, LaFrance hoarded details of everyday life in the Jim Crow era and reproduced them painstakingly in her paintings. Commonplace tasks like churning butter and peeling potatoes are captured in her colorful work. “Out for Dinner” shows a Black-owned diner where mouth-watering dishes like pork barbeque were served to Black patrons.
“Children Sleeping #2,” one of this writer’s favorites, may reflect one of LaFrance’s memories of growing up, when she and her sisters and cousins bunked together, giggling, whispering secrets and sharing hopes and dreams until they succumbed to sleep.
The museum exhibit marks the first public viewing of LaFrance’s iconic 1998 painting of the Graves County Courthouse, which was toppled in the 1991 tornado. The historic painting was purchased by the Waldrop family of western Kentucky in 2025, through efforts of the Paducah Historical Preservation Group.
The art of Helen LaFrance is just one dimension of the Paducah Historical Preservation Group. Their vision is focused on preserving African American history in the Purchase Area: Ballard, Calloway, Carlisle, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Marshall and McCracken Counties.
The group’s purpose is to identify historically significant locations and have them recognized as historical preservation sites that are documented on state and national registries.
The Wrather Museum is open Monday through Friday, 12-4 p.m. There is no admission fee.
