HEARTFELT ART
HEARTFELT ART — Kenton Mayor Danny Jowers (right) expressed heartfelt appreciation to renowned billboard artist Benny Zaricor, who was raised in Kenton and now lives near New Orleans, during a mural dedication to kick off the town’s White Squirrel Festival on South Poplar Street downtown Friday night. Zaricor painted the artwork on 12-foot by 24-foot metal panels last fall after many years of talking and planning, fulfilling town leaders’ longtime dream of seeing the return of a mural. It pays homage to the city’s population of white squirrels and highlights the architectural beauty of Kenton’s Methodist and Cumberland Presbyterian churches, as well as makes references to the cotton and grape crops produced in the area and to the town’s beloved late physician, Dr. Jack Gray. There are also 17 white squirrels “hidden” in the artwork in various forms, not counting the large one featured. Zaricor will serve as grand marshal of the White Squirrel Festival’s Fourth of July parade at 11 a.m. Thursday.
