by Bailey Gonterman
On the main floor of the Kinlaw library, just past the computers to your right, is a brand new art exhibit that features many settings that are familiar to Asbury students and Wilmore residents alike. There’s a drawing of Old Asbury, the front doors of Hughes Auditorium, even the Ale 8 vending machine that sits in front of the IGA, and it all is expertly captured through pencil and paper by the artful hand of Libby Beaty.
Tucked away in the Catalyst center, Beaty is no stranger to our tiny wedge of Jessamine county. She is an Asbury ‘97 alumnus, an art teacher, wife and mother. Her family returned to Wilmore for the first time in 20 years during the height of the pandemic. After traveling and teaching all over the globe, returning to small town Kentucky would have been jarring to anyone, but Beaty saw it as an opportunity to pick up her pencil. And so Drawing Wilmore was born.
Asbury students, alumni and Wilmore residents who discovered Beaty’s artwork on Instagram and Facebook were instantly welcomed into a space to share memories of Wilmore from the past and present. What appears at first to be just a drawing of a nondescript building on a street corner, becomes a portal to distant memories and better times for people all over the world. That building wasn’t always Asbury’s art annex; it was once a diner that one’s grandparents frequented. “I can still smell the different smell of each level in my mind,” comments Instagram user Hsontag on Beaty’s depiction of the annex.
What initially started as an outlet or a way to get out of the house during COVID-19 has since snowballed into a great, community building movement across social media. Now, six years later, Beaty’s artwork gets the spotlight it deserves and is put on display in the Kinlaw library for another generation of Asbury students to appreciate.
Both former and current Asbury students look fondly on Beaty’s work, especially the sketch depicting Old Asbury standing stalwart at the top of Reasoner green. Ruby Heid, a senior at Asbury and equine sciences major, shared memories of her aunt attending Asbury College, with Beaty’s sketch bringing them to life. “I feel like we’ve gotten to experience like a completely different Asbury than my aunt did. But at the same time, the place is full of so many traditions that it’s like the same place,” said Heid.
“When you share these drawings of places that are so meaningful to people, and you have your own experiences with those places, but to hear other people share their memories from 40-50 years ago or even just yesterday, the common appreciation for just the simple things is really special,” says Beaty.
One of Beaty’s favorite pieces in her collection is a drawing of the open doors to Hughes Auditorium, which was created two years to the day before the Outpouring started. Even though the chapel is empty and silent in the illustration, the doors remain wide open, which perfectly encapsulates the sort of community that Drawing Wilmore highlights. Wilmore might be a small town, with just over 6,000 residents, but it has become its own mini melting pot with people from all over the world pouring into and out of it each year. Everyone has fond memories of their time in Wilmore, and through Beaty’s artwork we can share our own experiences with one another, which is such an amazing gift.
Drawing Wilmore has been going almost six years strong, and Beaty does not intend to stop any time soon. If you live in the area or on campus, feel free to stop by the Kinlaw library to see some of her art for yourself and share some stories of your own.
