07/18/2026
Only One Day Left to Visit Jesse and Jennifer Sims' Art Exhibit
Mary Beth Sallee
Managing Editor
Those who have not yet experienced the work of artists Jesse and Jennifer Sims have one final opportunity to visit their joint exhibit this Saturday, July 18 at the Baker Arboretum and Downing Museum in Bowling Green.
For the couple, exhibiting at the Downing Museum carries special significance because of their connections to the museum, Horse Cave artist Joe Downing and the late Jerry Baker.
“Having our work exhibited at the Downing Museum means a lot to Jesse and I as Joe Downing grew up in Horse Cave where our studio is located,” Jennifer said. “Also, we were friends of Jerry Baker and enjoyed being invited to events at his home. We have work that is part of Jerry Baker’s collection.”
Jennifer teaches art at Hart County High School and serves as a part-time Instructor of Art Education at Western Kentucky University. Art has been an important part of her life since childhood. Although her area of emphasis in college was painting, she now works primarily in printmaking and mixed media.
Jennifer's artwork explores the peace and serenity found in nature, human relationships to the natural world, and destinations and relics of the past. Her "Cedar" series is based on a trail in Mammoth Cave and reflects the peace and serenity one can find in nature, much like the peace found in a church with stained-glass windows.
Jennifer’s “Lifescape” series explores relationships and the ways people nurture one another, much like plants. The work also examines how relationships can wither and fade when they are neglected and not given care.
Jennifer’s mixed-media pieces incorporate monotype prints, painting, collage, and weaving. A recurring theme in her monotypes is destinations and relics of the past.
One piece in the exhibit, “Past Perceptions,” holds a particularly personal connection for her.
“The piece that is on our card for the show ‘Past Perceptions’ incorporates the Farmers Almanac from 1969,” Jennifer said. “I often like to incorporate pieces from the past and (the) image was found in an antique shop and is the almanac for my birth year.”
She also has two pieces based on Floyd Collins that incorporate imagery from newspaper reporting about his entrapment.
Jesse is a fine artist, illustrator and muralist who works primarily from Sims Studios in Horse Cave. He works in a variety of media, including two- and three-dimensional art, restoration and mural projects, and also has experience working in clay and various sculpture techniques. His work reflects his past experience as an architectural draftsman and in manufacturing and is inspired by the rural landscapes and urban sprawl of southcentral Kentucky.
“My current series of paintings are influenced by gothic architecture and the current landscape around me,” Jesse stated.
Jesse said his study of Gothic architecture has influenced the layout of many of his paintings. He draws parallels between the soaring columns and pointed arches of Gothic cathedrals and the tall trees whose branches create natural canopies, resembling outdoor cathedrals.
The rural landscape of southcentral Kentucky also serves as a major source of inspiration for Jesse's work.
“As I drive around the 31W/31E corridor, I am constantly finding things that spark my interests either in wooded patches, fields and meadows, or how the landscapes transitions from towns to rural areas,” Jesse said.
Jesse also shared that remnants of abandoned structures and signs become "…memorials or ghost that hold countless stories of what once was, abandoned, like litter in our constant quest for progress.” He said those relics give the landscape a mystical quality that parallels the sense of space found in Gothic architecture.
Jesse’s “Migration” series features abandoned buildings, particularly gas stations, and examines the way structures and the resources used to create them are often discarded.
“For Jesse’s work, his themes are based to create a sense of space and the blight of urban sprawl,” Jennifer shared. “The ‘Migration’ series features abandoned buildings, gas stations in particular. In America, we treat structures as a commodity that can be cast aside where the resources used to create those structures are wasted. The ‘Relic’ series takes elements of abandoned structures and places those in landscapes that depicts the cycle of nature taking back what man has developed.”
Although Jesse and Jennifer approach their artwork from different perspectives, they hope visitors will form their own connections with the pieces on display.
“We hope the people come away enjoying our work, and we like to let people take from it what they like,” Jennifer said.
After the exhibit closes, Jesse and Jennifer are looking ahead to the next chapter for their Horse Cave studio.
“We are excited to get Sims Studios reopened soon and have a grand reopening,” Jennifer said.
Again, Jesse and Jennifer Sims’ exhibit will have its final display on Saturday, July 18, at the Baker Arboretum and Downing Museum, 4801 Morgantown Rd., Bowling Green, KY 42101. The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT, offering visitors one final opportunity to experience the work of two local artists whose creations are inspired by the landscapes, history, and communities of southcentral Kentucky.
📷: Artists Jesse and Jennifer Sims, left, are pictured at their art exhibit with longtime friends and supporters, Mike Wolfe and Leticia Cline. Photo submitted by Jennifer Sims.
