{"id":30366,"date":"2022-06-28T06:00:55","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T11:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=30366"},"modified":"2022-06-27T23:19:36","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T04:19:36","slug":"custom-house-museums-flying-high-unveils-signature-artwork-kitty-harvills-painting-pegs-pony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2022\/06\/28\/custom-house-museums-flying-high-unveils-signature-artwork-kitty-harvills-painting-pegs-pony\/","title":{"rendered":"Custom House Museum\u2019s Flying High unveils Signature Artwork, Kitty Harvill\u2019s Painting \u201cPeg\u2019s Pony\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CustomsClarksville, TN<\/strong> – Every year for Flying High, the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center\u2019s largest fundraising gala, one local artist is commissioned to be the \u201cSignature Artist\u201d to produce a unique and original work of art to be sold as the highlight of the event\u2019s live auction.<\/p>\n

This year, recently-returned Clarksvillian Kitty Harvill has provided an emotionally-charged watercolor that makes a lasting impression, while also paying homage to her mother\u2019s legacy with the Museum.<\/p>\n

\"Executive<\/a>

Executive Director Frank Lott stands with the Flying High 2022 Signature Artwork, artist Kitty Harvill and husband, Christoph.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Peg Harvill was the Flying High Signature Artist a dozen times, including for the gala\u2019s first ten years. Now, Kitty will share the Signature Artist title with her mother.<\/p>\n

On June 23rd, Kitty and the Museum\u2019s Executive Director Frank Lott unveiled Peg\u2019s Pony<\/em> for the first time in front of Flying High sponsors, Museum members, other contributing artists and eager enthusiasts. The painting represents the Postmaster\u2019s Office of Clarksville\u2019s U.S. Post Office & Customs House built-in 1898.<\/p>\n

Kitty\u2019s painting was inspired by a black-and-white photograph from the Museum pictorial archives. She selected local people as models, along with a 1938 photo of her mother as a child, to recreate a scene of a family visiting the Postmaster in the late 1930s \u2013 the last years of the building\u2019s service as a Post Office & Customs House.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know of no other paintings of the building\u2019s interior of this time period, and my goal is to have marked a historic moment in time of Clarksville\u2019s rich history,\u201d explains Kitty.<\/p>\n

Kitty began as an oil painting artist, but after taking a class at Austin Peay State University taught by professor Max Hochstetler, Kitty fell in love with a different medium \u2013 watercolor.<\/p>\n

She later moved to Brazil with her husband Christoph, and after two years of photographing nature and wildlife, Kitty\u2019s artwork bloomed with those subjects, as did her personal dedication to conservation.<\/p>\n

Along with her husband, she founded Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature<\/a> (ABUN), a group for artists to create artwork in collaboration with biologists and organizations worldwide working for the conservation of endangered species and ecosystems, with 40 projects completed to date on every continent.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Kitty was recognized for her artistic contributions to nature and wildlife with Artists for Conservation\u2019s (AFC’s) top honor worldwide: the Simon Combes Conservation Artist Award. This award has become the world’s most prestigious conservation award for visual artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cKitty is a dear friend to this Museum and she\u2019s really captured not only the essence of life within our building long before we became a Museum, but also the legacy of her mother\u2019s relationship with this institution,\u201d says Lott. \u201cWe know whoever wins the bidding for this masterpiece will feel honored to own this important local treasure.\u201d Flying High attendees will have the chance to bid on this exceptional work of art as the final item for sale at the gala\u2019s live auction.<\/p>\n

Tickets are still available to attend the James Bond-inspired event called \u201cLive and Let Fly.\u201d The event is on Saturday, July 16th, beginning at 5:00pm at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel. The Museum Guild hosts a glamorous night of cocktails, dinner, silent and live auction, and dancing for their largest fundraising night of the year.<\/p>\n

Support the Museum\u2019s mission by purchasing tickets and bidding on standout auction items donated by many Clarksville businesses, local area artists, and more. Tickets are available on the Museum\u2019s website<\/a> or at Seasons: The Museum Store.<\/p>\n

About the Customs House Museum<\/h3>\n

\"Customs<\/a>Located in the heart of historic downtown Clarksville, Tennessee, the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center is the State\u2019s second largest general museum. The original portion of the building was constructed in 1898 as a U.S. Post Office and Customs House for the flourishing tobacco trade. Incorporating a number of architectural styles, the original structure is one of the most photographed buildings in the region.<\/p>\n

With over 35,000 square feet of the region\u2019s best hands-on activities and special events\u2026people of all ages agree \u2013 the Customs House Museum is well worth the stop!<\/p>\n

The Explorer\u2019s Gallery is packed with fun, learning and fantasy in Aunt Alice\u2019s Attic, McGregor\u2019s Market and kitchen, and of course \u2013 the Bubble Cave! Finally, get \u201call aboard\u201d to see our fantastic model trains. Our volunteer engineers \u201cride the rails\u201d every Sunday afternoon from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.<\/p>\n

Regular museum hours are 10:00am to 5:00pm Tuesday through Saturday, and 1:00pm to 5:00pm on Sundays. Adult admission is $7.00, Senior Citizens and College ID $5.00, Ages 6 to 18 $3.00, and under six years and Museum members are free.<\/p>\n

The Customs House Museum is located at 200 South Second Street. For more information, call 931.648.5780 or visit their website at www.customshousemuseum.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clarksville, TN – Every year for Flying High, the Customs House Museum & Cultural Center\u2019s largest fundraising gala, one local artist is commissioned to be the \u201cSignature Artist\u201d to produce a unique and original work of art to be sold as the highlight of the event\u2019s live auction. This year, recently-returned Clarksvillian Kitty Harvill has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[512,825,1050,4126,109,11365,1821,16732,11373],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xGYI-7TM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30366"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30368,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30366\/revisions\/30368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}