Oldham County History Center Annual Fundraising Gala

Please, join us for the Oldham County History Center Annual Fundraising Gala at Barn 8 – Hermitage Farm.

The 2024 J. Chilton Barnett Champion of Oldham County History Award will be presented at the annual Oldham County History Center Gala on Tuesday, July 28, 2024 at the Barn 8 Restaurant at Hermitage Farm. Currently the history center is seeking sponsorships for the event. Annual ticket sales begin June 1, 2024. There are various opportunities for sponsorships and recognition. The individual tickets are $200 which includes elegant dinner experience and open bar. For more information contact The Oldham County History Center, 502.222.0826 or email: Office@oldhamcountyhistorycenter.com.

Richard Luce Recipient of the 2024 J. Chilton Barnett Champion of Oldham County History Award

The Oldham County History Center announces Richard Luce at the 2024 recipient of the annual J. Chilton Barnett Champion of Oldham County History Award. A resident of Oldham County for the past 37 years, Richard Luce is a nationally recognized artist whose paintings have been featured in movies, television specials, numerous book and magazine covers as well as articles. His work appears across the United States in museums, private collections, galleries, and exhibitions. He has also had a collection plate series by the Franklin Mint as well as a collector series by the Hamilton Collection. Richard is known for his historic western landscapes depicting scenes of Native Americans, mountain men, the Wild West and other moments in time from the Revolutionary War to Western expansion. Since 2006 he has been a participant in the annual recreation of the march the Overmountain Men made to the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. He has to date created seven original paintings depicting different stages of that historic event that ultimately led to our nation’s independence.

Luce painted “Harmony Landing” which depicts pioneer surveyors stepping onto Oldham County’s Ohio River shore as they are carefully observed by Shawnee hiding in the landscape. This piece is part of the opening exhibit at the center’s museum and its original painting is displayed in the Oldham County Courthouse. Born in Yonkers, New York in 1950, Richard became a commercial artist after graduation from college but soon realized his passion for the Wild West and pioneer history. “ I paint almost every day. I advise young artists to have very thick skin because you are going to meet people that deflate you. You just need to say I am going to do what I want to do.”

Richard is a stickler to depict his classic art as close to its’ historic presence as possible. “ I have done 430 or so paintings. People like the detail of my work and they like the authenticity. Custer’s Last Command painting is an example of that. I wanted to paint the most authentic scene that had been done. When I had it 99 % complete, I had a friend who worked at Custer’s battlefield (national park), Jim Hassle, and asked him to look it over to see if there was something not correct. Jim got back to me almost immediately and said I got the canteen color wrong. I said, ‘During the Indian Wars I thought they were all buff’, but he said, ‘They were, however in 1876, they were still using Civil War surplus, so they were blue.’ So, I changed them all to blue. I was glad that was all he could find. Of course, everything is open to interpretation as none of us were actually there.”

He is a 2023 member of the Oldham County History Center’s Living Treasures program. Richard lives in Crestwood with his wife, Lea Ann and their dog “Tilly”.