Lynn Dunbar is a nationally recognized painter who has participated in, and won awards for plein air competitions all over the U.S. Her artwork is featured on the 2018 Kentucky Derby and Oaks Posters available at Churchill Downs, and will be featured on the 2018 Holiday Edition of Woodford Reserve Bourbon. She has received the Award of Merit 2016, Owensboro Museum of Art, Science and History, Grand Prize Portland Heritage Arts Show 2014, honorable mention at the Salon International 2013, the 2012 Purchase Prize from the Owensboro Museum of Art, and the 2011 Grand Prize from the Louisville Women’s Club. Dunbar’s work has been featured most recently in the September 2017 Plein Air Magazine, and in American Art Review.
In the upcoming weeks there are multiple opportunities to meet the artist and acquire a signed copy of the artist’s Derby poster. A full schedule follows the Q&A.
How did you come to be chosen to paint the official 2018 Derby poster?
I was contacted spring of 2017. I was in New Orleans visiting my daughter when I got the phone call. Needless to say I was surprised. Churchill Downs liked my expressions of Kentucky, especially the riverboats, and asked me if I could send them a few images. I said, give me a couple hours and I will paint a race house too, so that's what I did. I sent them Belle and horse paintings. They were pleased and asked me if I would paint the images for the poster.
How much time did you spend at Churchill Downs?
I visited Churchill Downs to collect information and photograph scenes. I probably worked with Churchill Downs a good 6 months.
You are renowned for your landscapes, but none of your recent work had featured horses. Had you painted them earlier in your career?
I have painted animals including horses, cows and dogs. Now I am really getting into racehorses!
There is an element of the working life on the Ohio River in many of your paintings. Did you see your time at Churchill Downs as documenting another working environment that defines Kentucky?
Yes I do! And I am happy to be “Capturing the Spirit of Kentucky!” I hope to paint more racetrack scenes along with some more of our state’s Bourbon Industry.