LEXINGTON, KY (August 9, 2010) What happens when you combine talented high school art students with horses and an international blockbuster museum exhibition? Desert Treasures -- a high school art competition created to celebrate the Arabian horse while promoting The Museum’s Exhibit, A Gift From the Desert: The Art, History and Culture of the Arabian Horse, at the Kentucky Horse Park’s International Museum of the Horse.
A call for entries was sent to more than 50 central Kentucky high schools. The students were given a template of an Arabian horse and asked to create a design that was not only creative but also representative of the Arabian horse breed.
The students’ template designs were judged by a panel consisting of professional artists and representatives from both the International Museum of the Horse and The Pyramid Society. Judging was based on originality and execution of the design, relevance to the history and essence of the Arabian breed, and the overall impact of the piece.
The top 24 designs were awarded an elegant 17-inch resin sculpture of the Arabian to paint their designs for a final round of judging. The resin horses were cast from a one-of-a-kind original sculpture that was generously donated to the project by a lover of the Arabian horse.
Once the 24 horses were painted and returned to the park at the end of April, a final round of judging took place on April 28 and the top eight horses were selected to be awarded cash prizes for their schools’ art departments, with the top prize being $1,500.*
Jane Beshear, First Lady of Kentucky, observed "Desert Treasures is a wonderful project that not only raises excitement for the A Gift From the Desert exhibition, but showcases some of central Kentucky’s talented young artists. This competition is a huge success because we have so many dedicated teachers and talented students around the Bluegrass."
All 22 horses will be on exhibit at Artique, Lexington’s cultural gateway to the Games, in Lexington Green on Nicholasville Road at New Circle Road. The Exhibit opens Thursday, July 22, through the end of summer and can be viewed between the hours of 10 am – 9 pm Monday – Friday and Sunday 12 noon – 6 pm. After they are displayed, they will be auctioned off with proceeds going to The Black Stallion Literacy Foundation and the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation.
A Gift from the Desert, on exhibition at the Kentucky Horse Park through October 15, 2010, is the largest collection of Arabian horse art and artifacts ever assembled. Sponsored by the Saudi Arabian Equestrian Federation, this breathtaking exhibition features 400 artifacts, including a cuneiform clay tablet from 1400 BC, and works of art from 26 museums and private lenders including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford University, Ashmolean Museum, Carnegie Museum of Art, National Museum of Warsaw, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, American Museum of Natural History, and many others.
For more information on Desert Treasures, contact Melissa Crase at 859-661-3627 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . For information on A Gift from the Desert, contact the International Museum of the Horse at 859-259-4232 or go to www.agiftfromthedesert.com. For more information on Artique Gallery, at 272-8802 or go to www.ArtiqueGallery.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: High res photos of the three winning Desert Treasures are available for use in your publication with this release by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
* First, second and third place finishers respectively were: Sasha Dantchenko of SCAPA/Lafayette High School, Freja Quistguard of Montgomery Co. High School, and Katherine Spears of SCAPA/Lafayette High School. Honorable Mentions were awarded to: Jennifer Vice of Fleming Co. High School, Laura Turner of Washington Co. High School, Sara Myers of Burgin Independent High School, Emily Collier of SCAPA/Lafayette High School, and Tiffany Graves of Washington Co. High School.
The Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm/theme park and equine competition facility dedicated to man’s relationship with the horse. The park is an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet that hosted nearly 870,000 visitors and campers, as well as 15,000 competition horses in more than 100 special events and horse shows in 2009. The park is home to the National Horse Center which comprises more than 30 national and regional equine organizations. Located at Exit 120, Interstate 75, just north of Lexington, the Kentucky Horse Park is the place to get close to horses. Open daily, March 15 to October 31, and Wednesday through Sunday, November 1 to March 14.
