The Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission has endorsed Thomas Kennedy's painting "The Life of Abraham Lincoln."
A link to the painting can now be found on th endorsed projects listing on the Commission website - www.lincoln200.net.
Thomas Kennedy's Lincoln Painting Named Official Kentucky Bicentennial Artwork
L-R Kentucky Representative Brent Yonts, Judge Tommy Turner of Hodgenville,
Thomas Kennedy, Warren Greer, Chairman of the KALBC.
Thomas Kennedy's Bicentennial tribute "The Life of Abraham Lincoln" has been endorsed by the Kentucky Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission (KALBC).
At a recent meeting of the KALBC in Hodgenville, Kentucky, birthplace of Lincoln, Kennedy received official endorsement of his painting from KALB chairman Warren Greer at a presentation made possible by representative Yonts.
Kennedy, a Kentucky native now living in Spencer County Indiana has been very active in promoting the upcoming bicentennial of Lincoln's birth throughout Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Washington DC in preparation for the celebrations scheduled throughout 2008-2009. His master work, "The Life of Abraham Lincoln", has also been adopted as the official state bicentennial painting for Indiana and endorsed by the National Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
Kennedy Presents Print to Evansville
Thomas Kennedy recently presented a fine art, giclée print of his bicentennial painting, "The Life of Abraham Lincoln," to Mayor Weinzapfel and the city of Evansville on behalf of the Lincoln Legacy Group, Spencer County and himself. The Spencer County, Indiana artist thanked the city of Evansville for its part in his success as a commercial and fine artist.
"Almost all of my training as a commercial artist was in Evansville during my 30 years working here. I have had very little formal training. For the most part, I am self taught. What formal training I have had was right here in Evansville. I was always gratified that the teachers I did have respected my personal choice to focus my study on the great masters. I am honored to have learned so much about fine art right here in Indiana", he said.
Kennedy has been very active in promoting the upcoming bicentennial of Lincoln's birth throughout Indiana, Illinois, Indiana and Washington DC in preparation for the celebrations scheduled throughout 2008-2009. His master work, "The Life of Abraham Lincoln", has been adopted as the official state bicentennial painting for both Indiana and Kentucky and has been endorsed by the National Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
Featured Artist
Spencer County artist, Thomas Kennedy was the featured artist at the Baker's Rack in Owensboro, Kentucky during their recent Open House. Thomas was there to promote his bicentennial painting, "The Life of Abraham Lincoln" and to introduce his new jigsaw puzzle of the painting.
Kennedy Takes Lincoln to Springfield
Pictured from left to right - Mayor Davlin of Springfield, Thomas Kennedy and Tim Farley,
Director of the Springfield Convention & Vistors Bureau (photo by Peggy Goone of the C&VB)
Artist, Thomas Kennedy was welcomed to Springfield, Illinois at a ceremony where he presented Mayor Davlin with a print of his bicentennial painting, "The Life of Abraham Lincoln" .
Peggy Goone of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau escorted Thomas on tours of sites throughout Springfield dedicated to Abraham Lincoln including the Lincoln Memorial.
Kennedy has been visiting Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky to raise awareness of his painting and the Lincoln Bicentennial
Kennedy Receives Distinguished Hoosier Award
Rep. Crouch, Thomas Kennedy & Sen. Becker with Distinguished Hoosier Award
As Indiana prepares for the bicentennial commemoration of President Abraham Lincoln’s life, State Sen. Vaneta Becker (R-Evansville) and State Rep. Suzanne Crouch (R- Evansville) have honored local artist Thomas Lewis Kennedy’s efforts to promote Lincoln’s legacy.
Kennedy created The Life of Abraham Lincoln, the official Lincoln Bicentennial promotional artwork to be used to in next year’s celebration commemorating America’s 16th president.
Because of his efforts, Becker and Crouch nominated Kennedy to receive the Distinguished Hoosier Award, an award given by the governor’s office in recognition of an individual’s contribution to the community and the state.
“As a member of the Lincoln bicentennial commission, I know we could not award this honor to a more deserving individual,” said Rep. Crouch. “Thomas Lewis Kennedy’s art keeps Lincoln’s memory alive and vibrant in the minds of Hoosiers and the entire country, reinforcing his tremendous legacy and invaluable lessons.”
“Kennedy worked for two years researching and painting scenes that depict the life of Lincoln,” Becker said. “His passion and commitment to portraying the life of Lincoln, an American icon, is an inspiration.”
The award was presented to Kennedy at the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana’s Bower Suhrheinrich Foundation Gallery, 318 Main St., Evansville.
Kennedy’s painting, which is endorsed by the National Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, depicts Lincoln’s life, in four places: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Washington D.C.
Efforts by a Lincoln legacy group are under way to place Kennedy’s print in all schools throughout the nation by February 2009.
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Thomas Kennedy Appointed Kentucky Colonel
Kentucky Circuit Judge, Thomas Castlen (above right), recently presented the Kentucky Colonel certification to artist Thomas Kennedy (above left) in a small ceremony in Owensboro. The highest honor awarded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky is that of Kentucky Colonel.
Commissions for Kentucky Colonels are given by the Governor and the Secretary of State to individuals in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to a community, state or the nation. Kennedy received his award in honor of his work "The Life of Abraham Lincoln" and his utilization of the painting to both promote the Bicentennial of Lincoln's birth and to teach children about the life of our 16th president.
Only the Governor of the Commonwealth has the authority to appoint a Kentucky Colonel. The actual certificate, by law, is issued by the Kentucky Secretary of State. There is a formal nomination process.
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Kennedy Featured On IUs PBS Station
Weekly Special Host, Ann Shea, and crew watch artist Thomas Kennedy at work during an interview which aired on Bloomington's WTIU PBS affiliate.
Kennedy's Life of Lincoln Goes International
Nate Feltman, Indiana Secretary of Commerce (below right), presented Fujio Cho (below left), chairman of Toyota, with a print of Spencer County artist, Thomas Kennedy's official bicentennial tribute to Abraham Lincoln on a recent trade mission to Japan.
A giclée print of "The Life of Abraham Lincoln" was given as a gesture of gratitude for Toyota's continuing support of the workforce of Indiana
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Kennedy and Hackman at the Mystery Festival
Thomas Kennedy adn Gene Hackman exchanged hand shakes and autographs at the Owensboro Mystery Festival in Owensboro Kentucky. Kennedy signed a print of his Lincoln Bicentennial artwork for Hackman and Hackman autographed his book. Hackman an his writing partner were at the festival to promote their new novel, Escape from Andersonville.
Kennedy's Lincoln on Display in Owensboro
Thomas Kenney's Lincoln Bicentennial sprint are on display in his hometown at the Owensboro/Daviess County Tourism office at 215 East 2nd. Street. It is available for viewing during business hours. Karen Miller, director of the tourism department, and Kennedy are pictured below with the print.
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Thomas Kennedy Receives National and State Endorsement for Lincoln Painting
Over 1,000 school children attended a press conference in Lincoln City, Indiana announcing the official endorsement of Thomas Kennedy's painting, "The Life of Abraham Lincoln" by the National Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
Officials from the Indiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, Indiana Department of Education and the Legacy Group announced plans for “The Life of Abraham Lincoln” painting created by Spencer County artist Thomas Kennedy.
After spending two years researching and creating the painting, Thomas Kennedy has been visiting Indiana classrooms for the past several months, using the painting to help students understand Lincoln's life and his connection to the Hoosier state. Plans are underway to place prints of the painting in all acredited schools in Indiana. Once that goal has been met, efforts will continue to place the prints in schools throughout the US as a teaching tool.
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Luce Elementary Students Get Up-Close Look at Lincoln
Before Thomas Kennedy began painting his descriptions of Abraham Lincoln's life, he wanted to learn everything he could about the nation's 16th president.
"It probably took as much reading as painting," Kennedy told Luce Elementary School pupils this week. "That's what montage painting is about, trying to tell a story in the most descriptive way you can."
Artist Thomas Kennedy speaks to students at Luce Elementary School in Spencer County on Tuesday. Kennedy spent two years working on the painting shown above as a tribute for the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration.
Kennedy's final product is quite descriptive. It chronicles key phases of Lincoln's life, which started in a log cabin in Hodgenville, Ky., and moved through Indiana and Illinois before reaching Washington, D.C.
The portrait has a vivid image of the Civil War, with U.S. and Confederate flags and soldiers in battle, along with Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
"In my opinion, that's the greatest speech written, ever," Kennedy said.
Kennedy depicts the young Lincoln as a ramshackle kid working hard on his family's Spencer County farm. That's where the future president lived from ages 7 to 21.
It was there, Kennedy said, that Lincoln developed the values and work ethic that carried him through life.
While living in Indiana, Lincoln lost his mother, Nancy Hanks. But he also "learned just about everything that made him who he was," he said.
Lincoln became an animal lover while being raised in Indiana.
"His dad could not make a hunter out of him," Kennedy said.
Kennedy's oil on canvas portrait is the official image of Lincoln's bicentennial celebration. Lincoln was born in 1809.
"It's worth your while to read what (Lincoln) was all about," he told Luce Elementary second- and fourth-graders.
As it turned out, though, the children already knew quite a bit about Lincoln.
Fourth-grader Paul Beatty, noting that Lincoln was known as "Honest Abe," said the president "learned how to be honest" while growing up in Indiana.
Alexis Rudolph, a second-grader, said Lincoln was a great president "because he was always honest and he freed the slaves."
Kennedy is a Louisville, Ky., native who grew up in Owensboro, Ky. He now lives in Spencer County, Ind.
He spent most of his career working as an illustrator with advertising agencies in Newburgh and Evansville. He has done illustrations for magazines, text books and trade journals.
In recent years, however, the study of Lincoln has become his passion.
"It took me two years to paint (the montage)," Kennedy said. "That's all I worked on."
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Kennedy Presents Print to Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear
Nationally recognized artist, Thomas Kennedy, addressed the delegates to the Kentucky Association for Economic Development's 2008 Spring Conference in Henderson on Thursday. Kennedy was a guest of Northwest Kentucky Forward CEO, Kevin Sheilly and was there to present a signed and numbered limited edition print of his Lincoln Bicentennial painting “The Life of Abraham Lincoln” to Governor Steve Beshear on behalf of Henderson’s Northwest Kentucky Forward and Spencer County, Indiana.
Kennedy spoke of the increasing trend toward regional cooperation in economic development and tourism and encouraged Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois to work together to promote the upcoming Lincoln Bicentennial across state lines. Kennedy is a Kentucky native now living in Rockport Indiana and has worked as an artist and illustrator in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.
Mr. Kennedy has been invited to speak throughout Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois about his exhaustive research and process for completing his masterwork, “The Life of Abraham Lincoln”. He was recently honored by his hometown, Owensboro, Kentucky, where Mayor, Tom Watson, presented him with a key to the city.
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Mayor of Owensboro Presents Key to the City to Artist Thomas Kennedy.
(L) Owensboro Mayor Tom Watson presents a
key to the city to Thomas Kennedy (R) as
Economic Development Director Nick Brake looks on.
Artist Thomas Kennedy was pleasantly surprised when he was presented the key to the city of Owensboro, Kentucky today. Kennedy and Tom Utter of Lincolnland Economic Development Corporation were at the Owensboro City Commission meeting at the invitation of Nick Brake, Owensboro Economic Development Director, to present a signed, numbered limited edition print of Kennedy's painting, "The Life of Abraham Lincoln" to Mayor Tom Watson, the people of Owensboro, Kennedy's' home town, and the people of Daviess County. The presentation was meant as a gift of gratitude to Kennedy's home town and a gesture of regional cooperation for the upcoming Lincoln Bicentennial.
Following the unveiling of the print, Thomas was asked to remain at the podium for a special presentation. On being presented with the key to the city, he remarked that it was the greatest honor he has ever received.
For more information on Thomas Kennedy, his painting, "The Life of Abraham Lincoln", or his other work visit his website @ www.thomaskennedyart.com.
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Thomas Kennedy Receives the David B. Synoweic Award
Spencer County Artist Thomas Kennedy is shown holding the David B. Synoweic Award he received at the Spencer County Regional Chamber of Commerce Dinner. The award was presented in honor of his efforts at promoting Spencer County's place in Abraham Lincoln's upcoming Bicentennial through his art.
Land of Lincoln Ind. officials support Thomas Kennedy's "The Life of Abraham Lincoln"
Thomas Kennedy's montage depiction of Abraham Lincoln's life
received a high-profile boost when it was unveiled in Indianapolis.
Suellen Reed, state superintendent of public instruction presented a canvas print of Thomas Kennedy's painting in her capitol office as part of a literacy campaign promoting reading about the 16th president.
Kennedy, who has given oversized prints and reproductions of the montage to Reed and Gov. Mitch Daniels, attended the event along with an entourage of supporters bused to Indianapolis from Spencer County.
The showcase is more than just a "thanks" for the gift, however.
It was a first public showing in a campaign to put Kennedy's painting in Indiana classrooms, and to make it an official image for the state and national commissions planning celebrations of the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth in 2009.
Less expensive prints
Reed has said she would like to see less expensive lithographs of the painting, a collection of scenes from Lincoln's life, go up in every school across Indiana.
She sees it as an eloquent biography presented without pages of text.
"I think it will serve as a model for all the ways we learn and take in information," she said. "And it points out that Lincoln spent his formative years in Indiana."
Moving from bottom to top, the painting takes viewers from Lincoln's birth in Kentucky through his years in Indiana, then Illinois, to the White House, where he led the nation through the Civil War and the end of slavery in the United States.
The center section focuses on scenes from his life in Southern Indiana, where he lived from ages 7 to 21 with his family in what would become Spencer County. Today, the area remembers him with Lincoln State Park and the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, which preserves the site where his family lived from 1816 to 1830, before moving to Illinois.
Pushing for adoption
Reed intends to work with Connie Nass, executive director of the Indiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial, to push for the art to be adopted by both the state and national commissions.
"It just tells the whole life story of Abraham Lincoln in pictures," Nass said.
Kennedy is a Louisville, Ky., native who grew up in Owensboro, Ky., and spent most of his career working as an illustrator with ad agencies in Evansville and Newburgh. He's done full-color illustrations for text books, trade journals and magazines.
Throughout his career, he drew and painted portraits and made fine art. He's continued doing so in a home and studio in Spencer County, where he moved several years ago.
Kennedy spent more than two years researching and painting his Lincoln history, which measures 32-by-44 inches.
Kennedy has sold 30 to 40 limited-edition, stretched canvas reproductions created with a Newburgh company. The original-sized copies sell for $1,500. The 42-by-58-inch "estate" reproductions, like those given to Reed and Daniels, retail for $3,000.
Gift to first lady
Kennedy also recently presented a print to first lady Laura Bush when he and Reed visited the White House to view an 18-foot tree decorated with ornaments representing the national parks. Kennedy created the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial's ornament, depicting Lincoln and scenes from his life and legacy.
For more information on Thomas Kennedy and to view more of his work, visit www.thomaskennedyart.com
Hoosier artist's montage depicting Lincoln's life unveiled at Statehouse (12/27)
By Lesley Stedman Weidenbener
lstedman@courier-journal.com
The Louisville Courier-Journal
INDIANAPOLIS -- Artist Thomas Kennedy unveiled his newly finished painting depicting Abraham Lincoln's life yesterday at the Statehouse. The montage is part of a reading campaign aimed at helping students understand Lincoln's life as the nation prepares for the bicentennial celebration of his birth in 1809.
We want to show students that you can tell a story in spoken words, written words or through art," state Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed said. Reed is now displaying the painting in her office.
Kennedy, a Louisville native who grew up in Owensboro, Ky., and now lives in Spencer County, Ind., has been studying Lincoln and working on the painting for about two years. "I've been reading and working, reading and working," Kennedy said.
He said the painting turned out just as he'd envisioned. "I didn't struggle with the composition or anything," he said.
The Indiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission will now consider whether to make the painting an official part of its celebration.
Kennedy's tribute to Lincoln is also under consideration for endorsement by the National Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
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Artist Thomas Kennedy's Lincoln Ornament on Display in White House Blue Room (12/07)
A hand painted Christmas ornament, by Thomas Kennedy representing Abraham Lincoln’s life in Indiana is prominently displayed on this year’s official White House Christmas Tree. The ornament, representing Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, located in Spencer County, Ind., is one of 391 on the tree, which celebrates the theme “Holiday in the National Parks.”
Artist Thomas Kennedy, of Rockport, designed and painted the ornament for Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial following suggestions from the park with four vignettes of the Lincoln story in Indiana. The four vignettes are: the Lincoln cabin, the Indiana sculpture from the Memorial Building, the tombstone from Nancy Hanks Lincoln’s grave, and a youthful Abraham Lincoln.
Photo of the Ornament painted by Thomas Kennedy
Kennedy attended the reception for the artists on Nov. 28 at the White House with his guest, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Suellen K. Reed. Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial will host Indiana’s Lincoln Bicentennial Kick-off Event, a Mothers Day ceremony, on Sunday, May 11, 2008. Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln is buried in a pioneer cemetery located on the Memorial grounds. For more information on this event and others near Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, visit www.ThinkLincoln.org.
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