The next time you walk down the Rail Trail alongside the Hopkinsville Christian County Public Library, you might notice something a little different.
There, on the right side before the river, a mural has been painted by the hands of talented local high schoolers — whose vision for inclusivity, hope and healing was channeled from the brush to the brick.
Late Monday afternoon, Sanctuary Inc. Executive Director Heather Lancaster, HCCPL Executive Director DeeAnna Sova, Mayor Wendell Lynch, Judge-Executive Steve Tribble and CCPS Art Instructor Paula Gieseke helped christen the new painting, which brings a stark awareness of sexual violence in both the nine-county Pennyrile service area and Christian County itself — as well as Sanctuary Inc.’s mission to both prevent the crime and help victims and their families along their way.
From July 1, 2020, until September 30, 2021, Sanctuary Inc. and its workers have placed more than 150 adults and 60 children in shelters, answered more than 6,900 help crisis calls, held more than 3,200 therapy/counseling sessions, accompanied more than 50 individuals to a hospital, provided more than 235,000 meals and attended more than 300 hearings as a part of court advocacy.
Lancaster said there was no better planned location for this mural in Hopkinsville.
And Sova agreed.
With April being both Sexual Assault Awareness and Child Abuse Awareness Month, Lynch and Tribble specifically addressed such in a city-county proclamation.
Tribble specifically targeted statistics from the CDC and federal authorities, noting the state of Kentucky has to grapple with too many cases of sexual violence — for men, women and children.
Carly Chaudoin, junior at Hopkinsville High School and participant of Youth Leadership Class of 2022, said there was an added blessing of working with both the HCCPL and Sanctuary Inc., as the Leadership Class is ultimately responsible for giving back to the community each year.
From idea to implementation, Lancaster said the mural took more than half a year to complete — and that the strategy of placement was the biggest key to the project’s beginning.
It’s been a critically successful last 30 days for Sanctuary Inc., which recently helped raise more than $35,000 alongside the Pennyroyal Arts Council and the “Dancing With Our Stars” celebration at the Alhambra Theatre.
Meanwhile this painting, Lancaster added, can live in perpetuity.
For more information about the organization and its efforts, visit thesanctuaryinc.com.
