Opening Reception for Lloyd Mattingly’s Memories of Lebanon Junction at Institute 193 on Saturday, May 23, 6 – 9 pm.

“Institute 193 is pleased to present “Memories of Lebanon Junction,” an exhibition of works by Lloyd Mattingly, organized in collaboration with The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft.

Lloyd “Hog” Mattingly (1923 – 2003) lived in Lebanon Junction, KY, a small town in Bullitt County, where he spent his working career as a brake repairman for the L&N Railroad. As a boy, Hog made his own toys, and he carried this hobby into adulthood, making architectural models at home in his spare time. Upon retiring in 1981, he began building models full-time from his home workshop, sometimes waking up in the middle of the night to work. Mattingly had always been strongly affected by his early memories. Beginning in 1982, he devoted months to making miniature replicas of historic downtown buildings in Lebanon Junction as they looked when he was a child.

A 1996 fire destroyed many of the creations in Mattingly’s workshop. Luckily, the Lebanon Junction models, stored in a separate shed, escaped the flames. The collection has since been donated to the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft.

Most architectural models speak about the future – what might be constructed, altered, or improved. However, Mattingly inverts this notion, instead using the Lebanon Junction models to replicate a reality that will never again exist. Colorful, intricate, and mostly empty, they stand together as a friendly salute to childhood as well as a memorial to the transience of time. “My memories were catching up with me. I had to make the miniatures,” Mattingly said of the work before he passed away in 2003.

“Memories of Lebanon Junction” will be on view at Institute 193, 193 N. Limestone St., Lexington, KY from May 20 to June 20, 2015 with a reception on Saturday, May 23 from 6 pm to 9 pm. Regular viewing hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm. Exhibitions at Institute 193 are always free of charge and open to the public.”