As historical and artistic installments for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence are unveiled across Northern Kentucky, the Boone County Public Library decided to make its exhibits permanent.
The exhibits — a mural and a history walk — will be unveiled at the library’s main branch in Burlington, Kentucky, June 28 at 2 p.m. Julie Althaver, library grant writer and data analyst director, said they always planned for something permanent.
“It’s giving everyone an opportunity to come and to learn more about individuals that became trailblazers and why they became trailblazers and what they did to revolutionize history,” she said.
Both exhibits are part of America250KY, and were made possible with grants from the National Endowment of the Arts, the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Historical Society. America250KY is part of America250, which was established by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that allocated funding to commemorate the milestone 250th anniversary of the United States.
The first, an eight-piece mural, highlights 24 “Kentucky trailblazers,” Althaver said. The library chose from a list of 248 names listed in the executive order by the Trump administration.
The mural was made by Christian Dallas, a local artist based in Cincinnati. On Sunday, four of the murals will be installed, and the rest will be ready by September.
The second installment is a history walk composed of 15 panels, each depicting a person, place or moment in Boone County history.
“We have from pre-history through the Revolutionary War with the Patriots,through the Civil War, highlighting enslaved peoples, and then into a little bit more modern times, because we talk about river towns like Petersburg and Rabbit Hash,” said Liza Pruiksma, local history specialist at the Boone County Public Library.
Pruiksma was the lead on the project, and said the panels were created to endure beyond the celebration of the anniversary. To do this, one of the panels will have a digital component that expands on each of the stories. The library also hopes to update it as more history is uncovered.
“Everybody knows the Ohio River, but do you realize the impact it had?” Pruiksma said. “It brought people, it brought goods, it was the dividing line between enslavement and freedom.”
The library will unveil the exhibits at an opening ceremony that begins at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 28.
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