In conjunction with Tomiko Jones's exhibition These Grand Places, please join us on Thursday, July 23 at 6:00 PM for a talk by Boyd Shearer about the complicated history of several public parks in Kentucky.

In These Grand Places, Tomiko Jones considers the history and current state of protected public lands, from national parks such as Capitol Reef, to national monuments like Bears Ears, to national recreation areas including Glen Canyon. Gathering stories from those she encountered during her onsite residences in public landscapes across the Southwest, Jones sought to understand, among other things: the politics of protection, what is meant by “public” land, and which "publics" are actually welcome (or feel welcome) in such places.

Boyd Shearer engages this line of inquiry about public land, but brings it closer to home by focusing on four public parks in Kentucky. Douglass Park, Cherokee State Resort Park, Hensley Settlement, and Blue Heron represent parks in Kentucky with unique histories. Douglass and Cherokee State Resort Parks were established for African Americans during the era of legal segregation in the early 20th century. Hensley Settlement and Blue Heron became part of larger national parks after the founding communities abandoned them during the 1950s amid broader social and economic changes. Using archival imagery, maps, and recent aerial photography, this presentation explores these parks and their entangled boundaries between city and wilderness, public and private, and past and present.

Boyd Shearer is a Senior Lecturer of Mapping and GIS at the University of Kentucky Department of Geography with a research focus on topographic visualization and terrain analysis. He has 25 years of experience in cartographic design and map publishing.