Past exhibitions
Lights on Main
November 2023—January 2024
Lights on Main was a special exhibition the Frazier hosted in partnership with the nonprofit I Would Rather be Reading (IWRBR). And, for the first time ever, Lights on Main was held indoors! From November 22 to January 8, the Frazier was transformed into an enchanted holiday forest with three floors of trees beautifully decorated by local schools, organizations, families, and individuals. Amazon, the Presenting Tree Sponsor, generously donated all seventy-five trees.
Pappy Van Winkle: The Van Winkle Family Collection
June 2020—October 2023
This exhibition celebrated the life and work of Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle and his family. Pappy Van Winkle hadn’t always planned to enter the bourbon business, but his impact on the industry continues to be felt four generations later. As he put it, he “simply tried to be honest and make a good product.” It was that simple to him, and it has stayed that simple for more than 100 years. Pappy Van Winkle: The Van Winkle Family Collection featured items from the Van Winkle family archives, including original photographs, bottles, and unique Bourbon-related items from the archives.
Tyler Gerth: Imaging Kentucky
September 2021—April 2023
Tyler Gerth tragically lost his life on June 27, 2020, while attending and documenting peaceful protests for racial justice in downtown Louisville. While Tyler has become known for the photos that he took recording these protests, his portfolio spans many other subjects. Tyler Gerth: Imaging Kentucky presented Tyler’s protest photos alongside his other work documenting Kentucky’s rural and urban landscapes to present a complete picture of Kentucky through the lens of Tyler Gerth.
Barrels of Heart
February 2, 2023—March 30, 2023
Barrels of Heart is Louisville's first bourbon-barrel art exhibition.
Curated by Morgan Hancock, founder of the nonprofit Bourbon with Heart, Barrels of Heart featured twenty custom Bourbon barrels designed by local artists of varying ages from eighteen to sixty-five, diverse ethnicities, and varying levels of experience—from award-winning professionals to hobbyists. During the exhibition’s eight-week run, members of the public had the opportunity to vote for their favorite custom-painted barrel. The winning artist was awarded a cash prize and a donation to the charity of their choice. The remaining proceeds will be donated to local nonprofits.
West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, & Reconciliation
September 18, 2021—September 5, 2022
“West of Ninth” is a photography and personal narrative blog that features residents from within the nine neighborhoods that make up West Louisville. These narratives give residents a voice and strive to create a sense of understanding for those within and outside of the West Louisville community.
In partnership with West of Ninth bloggers Walt and Shae Smith, the West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, & Reconciliation used the blog as a jumping-off point to explore the historic roots of Louisville’s Ninth Street divide, delving into issues of race, segregation, and redlining in the city.
Originally scheduled to open during the first week of protests that erupted in Louisville over the police killing of Breonna Taylor, West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, and Reconciliation explored how these historic factors contributed to the ongoing protests and race relations in Louisville.
West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, & Reconciliation featured artifacts excavated in Corn Island Archaeology’s exploration of historic Black neighborhood Beecher Terrace, as well as other objects related to Black history in Louisville and the ongoing protests, alongside selections from the “West of Ninth” blog.
As a part of the exhibition, Frazier curated a music playlist on Spotify that you heard in the exhibit and can be found here. All artists on the playlist have a tie to the nine neighborhoods featured in the West of Ninth: Race, Reckoning, & Reconciliation exhibition.
Border State: Kentucky and the Civil War
July 2019—December 2021
Kentucky was the birthplace of both wartime presidents, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. Not surprisingly, the state’s allegiances were divided.
White Kentuckians whose ancestors hailed from states like Virginia and South Carolina were loath to break loyalty with the South. Many of them supported the right of a state to preserve slavery. Yet most of Kentucky’s free citizens opposed secession, and the economic prosperity of Kentucky increasingly depended on Northern commerce.
Kentucky’s resources — abundant crops and livestock, navigable rivers, and extensive railways — made it a plum for commanders of both armies. President Lincoln thus recognized the Union’s fragile hold here: “I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game.”
Some of the artifacts that were featured in Border State: Kentucky and the Civil War can now be seen in The Commonwealth: Divided We Fall, now on view at the Frazier History Museum.
The Southern Exposition and the Satellites of Mercury in the Champagne Parlor
Closed December 2021
An exhibit about the Southern Exposition (1883-1887) and the Satellites of Mercury Festival that succeeded it. The Southern Exposition was an annual, World’s Fair-like civic convention in Louisville for which Pres. Chester A. Arthur presided over the opening ceremony. The world traveled to Louisville to discover innovation through the first successful nighttime fair. The 1883 Southern Exhibition was illuminated by former Louisville resident Thomas Edison, who personally managed the installation of the recently invented incandescent light bulbs. The 4,600 bulbs used at the fair outnumbered the total number of bulbs in all of New York City at the time! Included in the exhibit were facsimiles of applications, broadsides, cards, envelopes, hand-painted invitations, receipts, and welcome notes pertaining to the Expo and the Satellites of Mercury; an original, school-assigned essay by an adolescent student about her trip to the Expo; Gilded Age glassworks and kitchenware, day dresses, and a bicycle; fragments of the St. James Court fountain; and a “Salon-style” wall of paintings.
What is a Vote Worth? Suffrage Then and Now
March 2020 — March 2021
On August 18, 1920, Congress ratified the 19th Amendment granting women the legal right to vote. In 2020, the Frazier History Museum, the League of Women Voters of Louisville (LWVL), and the Louisville Metro Office for Women (OFW) came together to mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting, with an exhibit at the Frazier sponsored by Wells Fargo.
What is a Vote Worth? Suffrage Then and Now examined the women’s suffrage movement in the U.S., while zeroing in on features of the movement in Kentucky — its stars and villains, triumphs and defeats.
By situating the Kentucky woman’s suffrage movement within the history of the larger movement, What is a Vote Worth? connected the struggles faced by women in the past to those that continue in the 21st century.
Exhibitions prior to 2020 not included.
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