“Other human needs are more pressing than the arts,” Lexie Millikan admits, but the impact of the arts on the region’s economy needs to be taken into account. Rising from the ruins is a long-term ordeal, however, and small rural organizations face different challenges than their urban counterparts. “We’re traveling to places we’ve never been before.” “People are coming out of the woodwork, offering space,” Gunn exclaimed. The Graves County Library stepped forward, for example, as did the County Extension Office, and the Graves County High School Performing Arts Center. Organizations volunteered their facilities for workshops, classes, and exhibits. “We found homes for all of them,” she said, referring to programs that had been planned well in advance of the tornado. “It’s all about programming,” she said, and then she listed the various events that were still on the docket but slated to occur in different locations. Since the Mayfield guild does not own The Ice House, the future is uncertain, but there is an upbeat note in Nanc Gunn’s voice as she looks ahead. A GoFundMe page was created and the Yeiser shared it with their contacts to spread the word and secure support for the Mayfield-Graves County organization. The programming schedule that included activities for the whole year was in tatters. There were insurance claims to process and art to be returned to artists.
When the enormity of the responsibility hit, Gunn confessed, “It was pretty miserable.” She can be reached at Or visit All over the country, non-profits had been struggling for almost two years to survive the COVID pandemic, but the giant tornado and its aftermath presented mind-boggling obstacles. The two women became friends and came together to do what was needed for the Ice House – now without a physical home - to survive.Ĭonstance Alexander is a columnist, award-winning poet and playwright, and President of INTEXCommunications in Murray. Our staff went into helping mode,” Millikan recalled.Ĭases of bottled water left over from an opening reception were sent to Mayfield. “We were willing to help in any way possible. Upon hearing of the Ice House disaster, Lexie Millikan, executive director of Paducah’s Yeiser Art Center, sent a message to Gunn: “What can we do?” In one of many examples of the region pitching in to help, Paducah’s School of Art and Design repaired the painting. Gunn’s husband managed to climb over the rubble and get to the painting, which had been punctured in three places. In an instant of panic, Gunn thought of the irreplaceable painting in her office by Helen Le France, the noted Mayfield artist whose work had found homes all over town and also into the hands of celebrity collectors like Bryant Gumbel and Oprah Winfrey. The remnants were covered in mud, some smashed and distorted, almost unrecognizable. “The art had been taken out through the top, sucked out like a vacuum cleaner,” Gunn explained. It looked like the building had imploded. The Ice House Gallery following the storm (Photo by Nanc Gunn) When nails and other debris clogging the roads made it impossible to drive, she and her husband ended up walking the last two blocks to the Ice House. Everything.”Įven months later the shock is evident in Nanc Gunn’s voice. “Everywhere we looked, everything was destroyed, every telephone pole. The landscape was topsy-turvy the world turned upside-down. Enroute, things looked normal until they reached the crest of the bridge arching over the train tracks. The next morning, the couple drove to town to survey the damage. In fifty seconds,” she said, “it went right through Mayfield.” “We saw it on the radar and held our breath. Later, when the power went out, she and her husband tracked the storm by watching its progress on her phone. She headed home, about 8 miles north of town. In case of a lightning strike, she disconnected the computers before locking the doors for the night. All day, news reports warned that a combination of unique factors could lead to unstable weather. Nanc Gunn, gallery director, remembers December 10 clearly. The Ice House Gallery in Downtown Mayfield prior to the December Tornados (Photo by Rick Watson)
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