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The statue “Courage” on display in front of the Pioneer Playhouse. (Photo submitted)

The statue “Courage” on display in front of the Pioneer Playhouse. (Photo by Fiona Morgan)

Local artist Brandon Long paints the statue. (Photo submitted)

The horse statue in progress. photo submitted

Local artist Brandon Long painted the statue. (Photo submitted)

Local artist Brandon Long paints the statue. (Photo submitted)

Heather Henson holds her book “That Book Woman” and stands next to a painted horse donated to Pioneer Playhouse in honor of the new play celebrating packhorse librarians. The horse was painted by local artist Brandon Long. Photo by Fiona Morgan

Long used some prints of real photos of pack horse librarians, and some he painted on himself. Photo by Fiona Morgan

lance.gaither@bluegrassnewsmedia.com

Pioneer Playhouse has unveiled a horse statue in honor of the world premiere of the play “That Book Woman” at the playhouse. The statue was given to The Pioneer Playhouse by an anonymous donor, and the playhouse commissioned local artist Brandon Long to paint it.

Long named the statue “Courage,” and the design is inspired by the story of “That Book Woman” and the work of the pack horse librarians. The librarians often kept mementos of the people they met along their route. These collections were a vital part of the inspiration for the statue’s design.

“The horse is named Courage for the bravery of the pack horse librarians,” Long said. “The librarians would keep scrapbooks as part of their job.  They’d collage together drawings, pictures from magazines and books, quilt patterns, and even recipes given to them by the people they served on their route.”

Long worked alongside Pioneer Playhouse managing director and author of “That Book Woman” Heather Henson to create the design. Heather had an extensive collection of resources about the pack horse librarian program. Long wanted to use actual photos of the librarians in the sculpture.

“From the original Works Progress Administration images, I selected the ones that were the higher contrast and had enough detail to be able to work well as a transfer,” Long said. “ I hand-painted some of the other images. I wanted to be sure there was a good balance between transfers and hand-painted designs. The different designs had to be scaled to accommodate the different surfaces of the horse. For example, it wouldn’t work if I tried to paint a big detailed scene on the horse’s legs.”

Along the way to creating the statue, Long learned about pack horse librarians and their importance in the Great Depression.

“This artwork was definitely a challenge to try to tell the whole story of the pack horse librarians,” Long said. “I think that between Heather and I, we packed a lot of information and inspiration onto this pony.  I learned a lot about the program as well from the resources and it gave me so much more insight and depth into the play.”

Performances of “That Book Woman” will be held at The Pioneer Playhouse through July 22. After the play’s run is completed, the statue will be donated to the Boyle County Public Library.

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