Wellington Elementary School Students Exhibit Work to Celebrate the Year of the Horse

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 22, 2014) – Lexington’s Wellington Elementary School and the International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park will be celebrating the Year of the Horse with a special exhibit, beginning Jan. 22. “Shodo: The Art of Japanese Brush Painting,” will feature calligraphy created by the school’s third, fourth, and fifth grade students.

Each student used black Japanese ink (sumi) and bamboo brushes (fude) to paint the character for the word “horse” (uma) and their names on rice paper. Calligraphy is considered high art in the Far East, and there is a specific stroke order and ink weight for each character.

Until its adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1912, China used the lunar calendar. The Chinese calendar works in a cyclical pattern in which each cycle is 12 years long and begins on the second new moon after the winter solstice. Within this calendar, each year is represented by an animal whose characteristics symbolize the mood of the year and those born within it.

Those born in 2014 – and every 12 years prior, each Year of the Horse – are considered to be adventurous, carefree and fun with a sense of humor. Culturally, the celebration of the Lunar New Year is still very popular in China and Japan as well as Vietnam, Korea, and Taiwan.

The students’ art will be on display at the International Museum of the Horse until April 18.  More information is available at www.imh.org.

The Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm/theme park and equine competition facility dedicated to man’s relationship with the horse. The park is an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet and hosted more than 800,000 visitors and campers, as well as 18,400 competition horses in more than 200 special events and horse shows in 2013. The park is home to the National Horse Center, which comprises more than 30 national and regional equine organizations.  Located at Exit 120, Interstate 75, just north of Lexington, the Kentucky Horse Park is the place to get close to horses. Information about the park’s programs and activities can be on-line at www.KyHorsePark.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram.

Lisa Jackson
Kentucky Horse Park
859-259-4224
Lisa.Jackson@ky.gov