While I was on my road trip last month, I happened to go through a small town in Kentucky called Berea, which calls itself “the Folk Arts and Crafts Capital of Kentucky.” Indeed, there are many cute little shops in Berea which display and sell a diversity of artwork from various artists… including jewelry, pottery, handwoven items, quilts, paintings, etc.
But of the things for which Berea is known, and which really caught my eye was its “Show of Hands” display. This is a group of twelve six-foot high fiberglass hands which have been mounted on concrete pedestals, painted by various artists, and exhibited outdoors around the community.
As can be expected, these hands attract a lot of attention, and also help to bring in public attention and support for the arts.
Here are pictures of some of my favorites…
for more information about “Show of Hands”
and to see more photos of the various hand artwork
check out this website:
http://bereaartscouncil.org/special/hands.htm
which ones are YOUR favorites???
This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
Deaf Pagan Crossroads 
My top 3 favorites are: “The Power of Make Belief”, ” Circle of Life” and “The Hand of the Creator”.
I really like all of them myself… I think each of them is quite creative in its own unique way. Although I didn’t get to see all of them (they are scattered all around the town and I didn’t seek them all out), I can say that the pictures don’t really do them justice – you have to see them in person to truly appreciate their beauty.
My faves are “Hand of the Creator”, “Circle of Life” and “The Power of Make Belief”.
A little biased here but Mano a Mano is my favorite; although all of them are quite creative; I wonder if its a perm display or are they going to auction them off just like they did in several towns. Baltimore had a similar art project to raise money for the town of Baltimore, they had crabs all over the place; there is another town that painted cows, etc..
I like “We make you kindly welcome” because it looks like a garden glove, and a “Bird in the Hand” because it looks so peaceful. I would like to see them in person, because I’m sure as you say, they are better that way.
As far as I can tell, this is a permanent display. The hands have been displayed since 2003 and I have not read anything that indicates they are for sale… the town intends to maintain these artistic hands “indefinitely.”
Wow, those are cool!!! I would have trouble picking a top favorite as they all are so unique and carry their own messages. I guess I would have to say my least favorite is “Tin Man” – but I think my top favorite among the others would vary depending on my mood and what strikes my fancy at that particular time. 🙂
They all are wonderfully created! WOW!!!!
beautiful!
Very cool. I like “power of make belief” best. I also really like Circle of life and tin man. I am not sure why i like tin man, maybe it appeals to the kansan in me.
I like the bronze hand with gold leaf… speaks to me…
As usual, you have an unique eye for art :o)
It does appear that “The Power of Make Belief” – which is the bronze hand with gold leaf that is shown in this blog, is a favorite with several of us.
I’m not sure why it was given that name… personally I don’t see anything “make belief” about it, but I must admit that I did not see this one in person. If I return to Berea in the future, I will make it a point to specifically look for this particular hand.
I like it because it reminds me of Autumn, which is my favorite season of the year.
i like the brown hand holding the leaves,remindes me of the season and the blue and green hand holding the dove giveng the message peace on earth, all the hands are neet but i like those two the best
I really like the third one, the hand with the dove. That’s beautiful and inspiring.
By the way, Ocean, I really like your current banner. That’s the best I’ve seen so far on your blog.
Too cool!! I like the autumn hand.