Mother/daughter team use story quilts to honor late poet Nikki Giovanni

Lexington artist uses traditional dance and visual art to tell stories

Multidisciplinary artist Lakshmi Sriraman demonstrates traditional dance next to one of her paintings from the series Us and Us. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/04a606a/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x612+0+0/resize/690x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F73%2F17%2F4244e66649639ed0177bfbf624fa%2Flakshmi1.jpg] Multidisciplinary artist Lakshmi Sriraman demonstrates traditional dance next to one of her paintings from the series Us and Us.(Cheri Lawson) At her Lexington art studio, Lakshmi Sriraman wears a bright yellow tunic-style top over white flowing pants. She demonstrates a traditional Indian dance known as Bharatanatyam. Her arms reach toward the ceiling as she twirls, telling a story with deliberate hand movements. “This is called Alapadman, and I’m having my hands flared out with my fingers flared out as though it is a fully bloomed flower,” explained Sriraman. “So, behind everything, I believe there is a story. And art is such a powerful medium where people give up their time and come to your performance or your space or whatever it is, saying, " Hey, I am giving this time to you. Tell me what you want to tell me, show me what you want to show me. So, when I go out, I am more than when I came here. That is at least my vision for my work," said Sriraman. Originally from India, Sriraman has lived in Lexington, her home, for more than two decades. The award-winning Sriraman is recognized as a Kentucky Crafted Artist, which indicates artistic excellence. And in 2025, at the Governor’s Awards in the Arts, she was the recipient of the Folk Heritage Award. Sriraman performs and choreographs for various groups and is also recognized as a visual artist. As an art advocate, she’s committed to spreading the message that art brings people together. “Lexington is home to so many diverse artists from across the world. And with them they bring the traditions and the culture and the art forms from those countries, and I think it’s important for us to have conversations with one another, share space with one another, understanding and exploring and appreciating and sharing in and learning these traditions and cultures and art forms,” said Sriraman. Artist Lakshmi Sriraman uses deliberate hand movements in a traditional dance at her art studio. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e447c2c/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x604+0+0/resize/699x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F90%2Fe3%2F508c70ae40d19706374a35bd4225%2Flakshmi2.jpg] Artist Lakshmi Sriraman uses deliberate hand movements in a traditional dance at her art studio.(Cheri Lawson) On this day, she shares a video of a recent performance she choreographed with the University of Kentucky Dancers. She recalls the theme of the South Indian Dance. “The story starts with young women who go to the river to get water. And they see dark clouds rolling in and they rush back home, and then these raindrops start falling. And they play with it and they gather the waters, splash on each other. So, it proceeds both in intensity and the storytelling behind it,” explained Sriraman. As a visual artist, Sriraman creates large-scale and medium-scale abstract work. She points to one of her paintings. There are two figures, one made up of red dots. The smaller figure is sprinkled with gold dots. She recalls how her work starts with one dot. “You place a dot, and you created one anchor. Now everything that’s created is going to be around that dot. Because you’ve created a single dot, you have oriented a space that has no meaning into some anchoring with that single dot. That’s all it takes, one dot,” said Sriraman. Artist Lakshmi Sriraman points to one of her paintings from the Us and Us series. She says the series has generated lots of discussion. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/84fdd6a/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x600+0+0/resize/704x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fab%2Fd4%2F7857725648d492d7e870c266e26b%2Flakshmi5.jpg] Artist Lakshmi Sriraman points to one of her paintings from the Us and Us series. She says the series has generated lots of discussion.(Cheri Lawson) Sriraman said her current series is titled Us and Us in response to Us and Them. ”This series imagines two or more people, or just one person in an abstract way filled with dots to also show that none of us is solid. We are all made up of a lot of things: experiences, memories, beliefs, communities, other people’s influence on us, our influence on others. And that’s what these dots are. We’re all like at any moment, an expression of all that we have been,” said Sriraman. The artist said her work is shown in international collections. Part of her Us and Us series is featured in a collection that opened at ADC Fine Art Gallery last week in Cincinnati.

Mother/daughter team use story quilts to honor late poet Nikki Giovanni

Linda Dixon and Kim Dixon Derouchey look over the first in a series of story quilts they are working on. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d408102/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x600+0+0/resize/704x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5b%2Fd6%2F28a120e74d19ae644f63f98bd5dc%2Fnikkig2.jpg] Linda Dixon and Kim Dixon Derouchey look over the first in a series of story quilts they are working on.(Cheri Lawson) It’s a sunny afternoon in the Cincinnati suburb of Wyoming, where the birds are chirping. Fiber artist Kim Dixon Derouchey and her mom, Linda Dixon, welcome me to Linda’s home. Kim, who lives in Lexington, joins her mom to work on a project honoring their dear friend, renowned poet and civil rights activist Nikki Giovanni, who died two years ago. “The project is making a series of story quilts that interpret the works of Nikki Giovanni, who was my mother’s very best friend and who had been in my life since I was very little. And she recently passed. And I wanted this to be something that I could share with my mother,” explained Kim. Giovanni grew up in Cincinnati. She first met Kim’s mom, Linda, in the 80s when she returned to Cincinnati to teach creative writing at the institution then known as the College of Mt St. Joe. Linda was on staff there. Linda and Giovanni met at the Christmas party for faculty and staff. Linda said they were the only two Black people in the big auditorium. “And we spotted each other from across the room and came together that way. I, of course, knew who she was, but she didn’t know who I was, and we became instant friends then,” said Linda. Linda Dixon opens the buffet drawer where she keeps all of the cards sent to her by her friend Nikki Giovanni. Daughter Kim looks on. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bee492c/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x729+0+0/resize/579x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdc%2Fa7%2F2c48113041ca89638c8e1ceebff5%2Fnikkig5.jpg] Linda Dixon opens the buffet drawer where she keeps all of the cards sent to her by her friend Nikki Giovanni. Daughter Kim looks on.(Cheri Lawson) When Giovanni died two years ago, it was reported widely, including on NPR. “Nikki Giovanni, one of the most celebrated poets of the last century, has died at 81. Her work includes more than two dozen poetry collections,” reported Michel Martin. To the world, Giovanni was an icon; to Linda, she was a good friend. “It makes me feel good to talk about her even though it’s made me a little teary. I just have not been able to accept her loss yet,” said Linda. Linda Dixon is emotional as she remembers her friend Nikki. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/721e884/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x885+0+0/resize/477x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1b%2Fc0%2F09f0f2ae4d91a33da28ac477a28e%2Fnikkig7.jpg] Linda Dixon is emotional as she remembers her friend Nikki.(Cheri Lawson) Kim received a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women to produce three story quilts based on Giovanni’s work. She and her mom are both quilters, but Kim is taking on the artwork for the project. The two women discuss the poems and collaborate on ideas for the quilts. Kim recalls the themes of the poems they chose. “They really do have to deal with Blackness. All of Nikki’s poems, I think, in some ways are about the African American experience and womanhood. Like the first poem that I looked at that my mother really wanted me to do, was Nikki Rosa, and that has a theme in it about childhood,” said Kim. Mother/daughter team Kim and Linda discuss plans for one of the story quilts based on Nikki Giovanni's work. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/487508e/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x600+0+0/resize/704x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0d%2F68%2F3ed9b5864821b5eb46c022a8e3c4%2Fnikkig3.jpg] Mother/daughter team Kim and Linda discuss plans for one of the story quilts based on Nikki Giovanni's work.(Cheri Lawson) Sitting at the round dining room table, Kim lays out her design ideas for the poem Nikki Rosa. Linda tells Kim her take on the piece. “The poem Nikki Rosa is really autobiographical. And so, it’s her talking about her childhood, so to speak, and the appreciation of her childhood, but the perception that outsiders might have of her childhood, “ said Linda. “Childhood remembrances are always a drag if you’re Black. You always remember things like living in Woodlawn with no inside toilet. And if you become famous or something. They never talk about how happy you were to have your mother all to yourself,” read Giovanni. That’s a recording of Giovanni reading part of her poem, Nikki Rosa. Kim and Linda also selected Giovanni’s piece called Hands: For Mother’s Day. They drape the quilt representing that poem over the table. The images of women like Coretta Scott King and Jackie Kennedy stand out. It actually does have Jackie Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy in the picture, but it is about women, and especially Black women, and the sacrifice they had to go through, especially during the 60s and during the Civil Rights Movement,” said Kim. This story quilt made by Kim Dixon includes images of women mentioned in Giovanni's piece Hands: For Mother's Day. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1d57fa1/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x600+0+0/resize/704x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F38%2F04%2Fd6ee30fc40078542a6eb4fd070fb%2Fnikkig6.jpg] This story quilt made by Kim Dixon includes images of women mentioned in Giovanni's piece Hands: For Mother's Day.(Cheri Lawson) Kim said she expects to have all three pieces completed in the next two years. They will eventually be displayed as a series. Mom Linda said it’s a lasting tribute to their friend.

New docuseries profiles women farmers across Kentucky

Dairy farmer Kenya Abraham talks with docuseries producer Erica Chambers. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7b651d3/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x436+0+0/resize/792x432!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4c%2Ffb%2Ff856df804f1c8c17cc1ce266840b%2Fdp10.jpg] Dairy farmer Kenya Abraham talks with docuseries producer Erica Chambers.(Cheri Lawson) It’s a chilly Spring morning at a Lexington dairy farm. Farmer Kenya Abraham walks through the pasture and calls to Merigold the cow. Abraham encourages Merigold to move toward the creamery where the milking is done. “They love to come up for milking. It’s like treat time. We don’t give them grain. They’re fed alfalfa pellets, but it’s a treat for them to get that,” says Abraham. The 51-year-old Abraham said her operation is a micro-dairy where raw milk is produced. “We are definitely not a big dairy production that you see on commercial operations. We milk one cow at a time in here. When you come in, especially to that milking parlor, you leave everything right here at your car. I just ask that you do that. Allow yourself to engage with the process and with what’s going on, the rhythm of this life. That’s what we do when we come into this space,” explained Abraham. Farmer Kenya Abraham on her farm in front of the creamery. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d98fb2a/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x709+0+0/resize/596x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa0%2F60%2Fc11a0e294cb5a01ae24a1c292c66%2Fdp7.jpg] Farmer Kenya Abraham on her farm in front of the creamery.(Cheri Lawson) Abraham is being featured in a docuseries about women who farm. The dairy farmer is passionate about her work and talks about some of the challenges. “Well, I’m not just a woman. I’m a Black, Muslim female as well. I’ve got what people would think of as a triple threat to some folks. It’s difficult in general to farm, but as a woman, you carry a lot of hats. I wear several scarves. I homeschool my children. I work from home. And I also farm, so just taking care of house, and being a mother, being a wife, and all the things. But this is where the sanctuary is for me,” said Abraham. Photographer Erica Chambers is the creator of the docuseries she calls Dirt Pearls. Chambers said the traveling exhibit features videos of women farmers from Appalachia and down the road. “The original idea was to go around and meet women farmers and take their pictures. And then I’d show up, and they had all these incredible stories, and it’s wisdom, and I couldn’t keep up. So, I started using my cell phone just to capture what they were saying. And I thought when I do these on exhibits, I will put maybe a quote by their picture and then it still didn’t do them justice. And so, this is how it kind of shifted from doing portraits to capturing them on my phone literally. And I would start uploading the behind-the-scenes footage because I wasn’t ready to release the photos. And people were like, When is this film coming out? Because they want to hear their story,” said Chamber. Photographer Erica Chambers hugs farmer Abraham after hearing her story. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ec0adc5/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x737+0+0/resize/573x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fde%2F98%2F240272bd4826a43da6de7a0f0c35%2Fdp12.jpg] Photographer Erica Chambers hugs farmer Abraham after hearing her story.(Cheri Lawson) Chambers, who lives in Berea, received a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women to begin this project. She says her intention is to focus on food justice, environmentalism, and the challenges women face on the farm. Along with dairy farmer Kenya Abraham, 27 other women have been videotaped by Erica Chambers. She shares comments from Melinda Wilder and Joana Amorim, both included in Dirt Pearls. “This is just another way of being environmentalist is you raise your food locally, you raise it organic. You serve your community,” said Wilder. “I just knew I wanted my career to be around plants and the natural world,” said Amorim. “The common theme that I see with all of the women that I’m featuring in Dirt Pearls is that it’s community, over Capitalism. They’re not trying to make, you know, a lot of money. They’re trying to take care of their families, and their community and the land. They’re land stewards,” explained Chambers. Milkmaids Aiya, Sabeal, and Laila Abraham prepare to milk a cow. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1b9a00f/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x600+0+0/resize/704x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F51%2F91%2Fdeb4052046728dbcd3c535b905a1%2Fdp5.jpg] Milkmaids Aiya, Sabeal, and Laila Abraham prepare to milk a cow.(Cheri Lawson) Erica Chambers says working on this project has been life-changing. She walks into the pasture with dairy farmer Kenya Abraham. Chambers uses the camera on her phone to zoom in on Abraham, who wears a gold hijab and teal t-shirt. Abraham talks about the emotion of milking a cow. “ For me, I cry into the hip bone of a cow. I have a lot of stress, and it’s where I relieve myself. They just give back. They’re very giving animals. I love cows,” said Abraham. Aiya Abraham prepares the cow for milking. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5d2d51d/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x910+0+0/resize/464x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F69%2Fbe%2Fe224c10a42e6b673c82bd5f97415%2Fdp2.jpg] Aiya Abraham prepares the cow for milking.(Cheri Lawson) Chambers said the project is evolving. Instead of releasing the docuseries as a complete project, she plans to release various segments over time at different film festivals.

Appalachian poet Pauletta Hansel is this year's Judy Gaines Young Book Award winner

Appalachian poet Pauletta Hansel reads at Transylvania University after receiving the Judy Gaines Young Book Award. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6e2064e/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x618+0+0/resize/683x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb5%2Ffb%2F03c475b14e10b3deec2a0cd27f62%2Fpaulettaaward4.jpg] Appalachian poet Pauletta Hansel reads at Transylvania University after receiving the Judy Gaines Young Book Award.(courtesy Virginia Underwood) Transylvania University has named Pauletta Hansel this year’s Judy Gaines Young Book Award winner. The award honors the work of Appalachian authors. Hansel talks about her poetry and shares some of her work. “Wherever I am, I am also looking through the eye of poetry and image and what our experiences tell us about what it means to be human.” That’s Appalachian poet Pauletta Hansel in August 2018. She was preparing to lead a workshop designed to help with grief. We talked about Palindrome, Hansel’s book written in response to her mother’s journey through dementia and Pauletta’s own journey with her as caregiver and poet. Palindrome was the winner of the 2017 Weatherford Award for best Appalachian Poetry Book. And now, Transylvania University has named Hansel this year’s Judy Gaines Young Book Award winner. “I am beyond honored to have received this award," said Hansel. Poet Pauletta Hansel addresses the audience at Transylvania University. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/29aa145/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x1002+0+0/resize/422x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff4%2F50%2F0f1f02e54bcd8d78aeb885d8905f%2Fpaulettaaward2.jpg] Poet Pauletta Hansel addresses the audience at Transylvania University.(courtesy Owen Cramer) Hansel said so many of her writing heroes are past recipients. "I look down the list of previous years and George Ella Lyon, who is so dear to my heart and has been so important to my writing, Frank X Walker, Crystal Wilkinson, Silas House," reported Hansel. This is the eleventh year for the award. Transylvania University’s Maurice Manning said this honor has recognized serious writers in our region who’ve made contributions to our literary culture. He said Hansel was at the top of the list this year. “It’s largely because she has an extensive body of work. She has long been an advocate, particularly for female voices in the literature of our region. And she in a very powerful way also an activist in recognizing particularly the struggles of the Appalachian region over a long history,” explained Manning. Pauletta Hansel was born in Richmond, Kentucky, and grew up in Breathitt County. The award-winning writer and teacher is the author of 10 poetry collections, including Heartbreak Tree and Coal Town Photograph. Her work has been featured in journals such as Oxford American, Appalachian Journal, and Still the Journal. She’s a founding member of the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition and was Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate. In 2019, at a poetry reading in Breathitt County, she read from her book Coal Town Photograph. “An Ode to Library Basements: And to the girl who skittered down the steps those bottomless Sunday afternoons to lose herself in possibility. You made me.” In 2022, she read from her collection Heart Break Tree during our interview. “The tongue-in-cheek title is, Home is the Place Where, When You Have to Go There You Only Think About How to Get Out.” “Busted up doll heads where the canned goods used to be, sun-steeped hill-buckled sidewalks, and everybody just looks tired. Nobody cares this is where your mother used to buy her meat. The houses you lived in plowed under.” And in 2024, to a Northern Kentucky audience, she shared poems from her book, Will There Also Be Singing? America. America, I am not singing you beautiful. I do not hear the melody beneath the rolling clang and clatter of your discord. I did not know I loved you, America, even broken as you were, until the fist came down. Don’t it always seem to go, you don’t know what you thought you had until the dream of it is gone?” Early this month at Transylvania University, Hansel was honored, as were student winners Skye Struwig and Dylan Howell. Pauletta Hansel is joined by student awardees, Skye Struwig and Dylan Howell, along with Transylvania University's Maurice Manning. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/21c273c/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x894+0+0/resize/472x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5d%2Fa2%2F5e4a264d4e37a1f62cf9d85da971%2Fpaulettaaward1.jpg] Pauletta Hansel is joined by student awardees, Skye Struwig and Dylan Howell, along with Transylvania University's Maurice Manning.(courtesy Owen Cramer) Pauletta Hansel says the Judy Gaines Young Book Award typically focuses on the recipient’s past work. She’s looking forward to reading to audiences from her new book, Understory: A Women’s History of Appalachia. "This is a hybrid book. It includes both history, and memoir, and poetry, of course. I’m not one to leave the poetry behind. And looks at the history of the Appalachian region through my maternal line,” said Hansel. Understory is being published by the University Press of Kentucky and is scheduled to be released this October. **The 1850 campaign is replacing lost federal funds one supporter at a time. Thanks to our listeners and supporters, we are very close to reaching our goal of 1850 new supporters donating at least $10 a month. Click here to join the campaign! [https://afg.secureallegiance.com/weku/WebModule/Donate.aspx?P=PLEDGE&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=2IHggXVb%2bSYhrOSvjvOZaxiCxtaFReuS]

A Kentucky artist created art awards from remnants of the London tornado

Collage artist Aleta Stone visits the white crosses put up in remembrance of those who died in the 2025 tornado. It's close to where she collected remnants for the collages that became art awards. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/26b342f/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x600+0+0/resize/704x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F57%2F4c%2F9c854add40c0bd0ca44454eb922c%2Faleta3.jpg] Collage artist Aleta Stone visits the white crosses put up in remembrance of those who died in the 2025 tornado. It's close to where she collected remnants for the collages that became art awards.(Cheri Lawson) At her London, Kentucky, woodworking studio, collage artist Aleta Stone uses a belt sander to smooth out a piece of wood. This is where she created the 2025 Governor’s Awards in the Arts. “It’s all people that are linked into the art world in some way that win the awards. And being selected by the Arts Council to create the awards was such an honor,” explained Stone. The eight awards Stone made are one-of-a-kind collages. For the theme, she was tasked with reflecting the strength and resilience of the people of Kentucky who’ve been impacted by natural disasters such as floods and tornadoes in the state. “I wanted to create something that would reflect not only their strength and their resilience but also that would show the darkness, the fear, and moving then toward the light to a new day and new beginnings and hope,” said Stone. Aleta Stone demonstrates how she prepares a piece of wood in her workshop for her collages. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5e882ff/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x600+0+0/resize/704x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffb%2Fc7%2F20aa705e4f48a8407692c1fab7ec%2Faleta8.jpg] Aleta Stone demonstrates how she prepares a piece of wood in her workshop for her collages.(Cheri Lawson) In her workshop, she has shelves of recycled wood she uses to fashion most of her collages. But on this day, Stone drives me to the area of London that was hit hardest by a tornado on May 16th last year, where there was death and destruction. It’s here that she collected debris from the piles of items destroyed in the tornado. She used pieces of what she found to make parts of the awards. Returning to the area of devastation is emotional for her. She points to numerous white crosses lined up near the road, honoring those who lost their lives. Each one of the crosses has some sort of messages on them, whether it’s God bless you and your family. You will be so missed. Rest in peace. Some of the other ones, love and hugs for you, sis. I will miss you; see you in heaven,” said Stone. A few weeks after the tornado, is when Stone was told she could collect pieces of the debris from the destruction. She points out some of the items used in the Governor’s Awards in the Arts collages. ”We found a guitar, so a couple of the pieces had a slice of the guitar put into them. I also had found chairback rails. I sliced those up and put them in some of the pieces. And then probably the saddest piece that I used was, I found a baseball to where the leather had been peeled back, and it was all scuffed up and scratched and dirty, and I brought it home and cleaned it up and I sliced up the leather and put that in some of the pieces to represent the children,” said Stone. Governor Andy Beshear stands by artist Aleta Stone and one of the collage art awards. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e157639/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x719+0+0/resize/587x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7f%2F47%2F69a149e544549ce2e6e64b6b3f49%2Faleta5.jpg] Governor Andy Beshear stands by artist Aleta Stone and one of the collage art awards.(courtesy Michael Flores) Back at her home, sitting on her screened-in porch overlooking a lake, Stone holds up her iPad with pictures of the awards. She says she was asked to create 8 awards. Each collage is unique and displayed in a 26-inch by 22-inch frame. She described one of the collages. “This has the baseball with the stitching, and then this particular one goes up to show the red. Red is the color of fear, and it was an extremely fearful night, but it is also the color of love. And there’s so much love in Kentucky. And this particular piece, I had a little heart, it was a wooden heart, and I broke it in half. And this one was called heartbroken,” said Stone. One of the eight collages, Aleta Stone created for the 2025 Governor's Awards in the Arts. [https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/30c6efd/2147483647/strip/false/crop/800x902+0+0/resize/468x528!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fac%2Fbf%2Ffb3e755d44c388b0bdb4524c2f52%2Faleta1.jpg] One of the eight collages, Aleta Stone created for the 2025 Governor's Awards in the Arts.(courtesy Aleta Stone) Stone said the collages represent the strength and resilience of Kentuckians like Glenna and Fredi Angel. The sisters-in-law live next to each other in cabins on a farm in Laurel County. Their neighborhood was hit hard by last May’s tornado. Glenna’s 47- year-old-daughter Tiffany was killed. The collages Aleta Stone made as the Governor’s Awards in the Arts touched these women deeply. The idea that Stone used remnants of the Laurel County tornado is symbolic to them. Fredi says it’s one way to honor her niece and the others who were killed. “It means that they’re not going to be forgotten. These people are gone but their spirits are in those pictures,” said Fredi. For Glenna, who continues to grieve the loss of her daughter, the collages mean a lot. Glenna.: “It’s heartfelt, and it’s forever. It’s something that is so special that it’s going to last into infinity," said Glenna. Aleta Stone says she’s grateful her work is meaningful to survivors of natural disasters like last year’s tornado. She says she’ll continue telling the stories of Kentuckians through her art.