Corbin public art project to be auctioned this Saturday

Fourteen of the 15 decorative trains displayed in downtown Corbin as part of the city’s first public art project will be sold at auction this Saturday to help the Main Street Program.

Corbin Main Street Manager Sharae Myers said an auction for the 15 polyresin sculptures will take place this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Registration for the event will start on-site at noon.

Entitled "Monuments of Art, Spirit and Heritage" the public art display consists of 15 polyresin train sculptures about three feet in length that have decorated by local schools and commissioned artists. They were unveiled and placed on display last October and have remained for all to view at the old Cox’s House of Furniture site, located at the corner of Main and Monroe Streets. Each train tells a story in its own right.

One of the trains, featuring CSX in its design, will be donated to the railroad company. CSX provided $5,000 for the project, and also donated crossties for pedestals on which each of the trains sits.

"I’m hoping it goes well," said Corbin Main Street Manager Sharae Myers. "There’s a lot of individuals and businesses in the community that have a respect or some kind of interest in our link to the railroad. I know when they first went on display there was somebody that called and said they wanted one to go by their swimming pool."

Myers said the majority of the trains held up well in the weather for the past year. Some show signs of fading or damage, but most of the artists that followed guidelines set forth for the project had trains that resisted weathering.

Money garnered from the auction will be used, Myers said, to help pay for the development of a Secret Recipe Garden at the site – an integral part of a park that is being planned in honor of Kentucky Fried Chicken Founder Col. Harland Sanders.

Display cases that showed the artists behind each of the trains, and the story behind their work on each train, will be "repurposed" as part of the Sander’s Park.

Cash and checks will be accepted as payment at the auction, but not credit cards.