Gallopalooza 2024 took off out of the gate on March 21. At the Gallopalooza Collection Preview and Unveiling event presented by Churchill Downs, 75 fiberglass statues of life-sized horses and 75 tabletop versions were on display. Many of the artists who created them were in attendance. The VIP preview event was followed by official Kentucky Derby festival programming March 22–24.
Gallopalooza has adorned the streets of Louisville since 2004. Originally developed as a local pride and tourism initiative, Gallopalooza supports the Brightside Foundation, the donor-funded, volunteer-driven non-profit organization that creates green spaces and beautifies Louisville's neighborhoods.
For the sesquicentennial renewal, there are designs that celebrate the Kentucky Derby itself, as well as the Louisville skyline, bourbon, and cardinals. There are exquisitely painted pieces like "Water Works" by Rita M. Cameron (sponsored by Louisville Water Company) and dynamic scenes rendered in a watercolor style like "Colorful Race" by Humberto Lahera (sponsored by Churchill Downs). There are designs that instantly inspire pride like "WES" (sponsored by Tandem Public Relations) painted by students at West End School. Some of the most memorable entries illuminate the historically overlooked components of Derby City.
Because of You / Por Es Ustedes
The Backside Learning Center (BLC) is an independent non-profit organization who provide resources in an inclusive environment for the diverse community of racetrack workers and their families. This year, the BLC was gifted an entry into Gallopalooza by Brightside.
Sherry Stanley, Executive Director of the BLC, says most people who come to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby have no idea that "there are people back here working in the stable area 10 months out of the year — and at the Trackside Training Center off Poplar Level, 12 months out of the year." The Derby has often been called "the Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports," but those two minutes require 365 days of labor. Because the BLC supports the community of workers who make all of this possible, it was important to Stanley to use the opportunity to submit a horse to Gallopalooza in a way that depicts "all the hands that care for the horses, that touch the horses, and that without them, horse racing would not be possible."
Peyton Hobson, Communications and Marketing Manager at the BLC, shares this sentiment. When she heard that the BLC had the opportunity to design a horse, she was particularly excited to work with visual artist Sara Noori to design a horse for Gallopalooza.
A Louisville-based artist of mixed Persian ancestry, Noori explains that every worker on the Backside and the Trackside contributed to this design. "This piece is made to honor all the people who touch the horses every day and symbolize how many hands are behind the horses, how many hands are behind the industry." They understand how easy it is to celebrate "the glitz and the glamor" of the race itself and to only shine a light on the people who hold wealth. "But really, it's about the people who make it happen." The bilingual English / Spanish title of the piece — "Because of You / Por Es Ustedes" — reflects that reality and gratitude.
Noori chose an iridescent yellow-gold for their horse's muzzle, forelock, mane, and tail. The same shimmering gold was applied to the fetlock, pastern, and hooves, grounding the statue in a color associated with valuable assets. "The horse itself is something that's irreplaceable," Noori says. "But more importantly, it's the people who are invaluable." They chose to leave the body of the sculpture a soft white so their use of blue, green, yellow, and red — selected directly from the palette of the BLC brand—would be all the more vivid.
The BLC transported the sculpture to the Trackside Training Center, where 130 workers put their handprints on the horse, each person dipping their hands into paint and then pressing it onto the surface of the sculpture. There are 150 handprints total, symbolizing the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby. Each worker whose handprint adorns this horse also wrote their name and a corresponding number. Between handprints there are QR codes that link to an image of the person behind the handprint and their title. The tabletop version of the sculpture is patterned with thumbprints from the children of the Backside and Trackside staff.
Hobson, who herself has a background in graphic design, says this collaborative design humanizes the processes involved in the equine care that makes the Kentucky Derby possible. "It gives voice to the workers who are the backbone of the thoroughbred industry." This is the first time the BLC has contributed a design to Gallopalooza and it has already made a lasting impression.
Pushing Cultural Limits In The Ville
Enrique Andres Santiago, who goes by the mononym Rique, says he is inspired by petroglyphs found across the Americas. "I've always been inspired by the Mayans and how they would paint on their bodies,” he says. The body of his horse sculpture, titled "The Ville" (sponsored by 10K Advisors), is painted with short, solid lines that are, at a glance, reminiscent of Keith Haring. Yet Haring himself was inspired by the mark-making and pictorial traditions of Central American cultures.
Rique’s entry into Gallopalooza has a maze-like quality that rewards closer viewing. Among his pattern are shapes immediately recognizable to Louisvillians. "I wanted to capture our experiences living in Louisville, going to Churchill Downs, Muhammad Ali, you know," he gestures toward the forms embedded into his design. He incorporated these elements because they represent the presence of diverse cultures in Louisville. He says American audiences love art created by Brown people and always want to see more, but that the cultural heritage of the artists themselves are often overlooked. "And that's why I'm happy I'm here tonight."
Rique is half Puerto Rican, and some of the other half of his ancestry is Native American. A lot of Louisvillians might not know about what Rique calls the Spanish-language scene. "But there absolutely is [one]. You know, if you're Spanish, you're going to the cookouts every weekend. You know where all the good places are, you know all the little shops and things like that."
Rique describes the way Latino culture runs alongside white culture in Louisville. "If you blink, you won't even notice it. But I can't even tell you how many Spanish-speaking people there are in Louisville." As an artist, he wants to redefine what being Latino means. "I want people to know that it's OK to push the boundaries and push the cultural limits and be yourself."
Peculiarizing The Kentucky Derby
Originally from Albuquerque, Jessica Chao moved to Louisville in 2019 to pursue a career in visual art. Her work is designed to "peculiarize" the familiar and to draw attention to hidden meanings.
Jennifer Chappell, councilwoman for district 15, personally invited Chao to design an entry for Gallopalooza. Chao says she and Councilwoman Chappell bonded immediately because Chappell understood that "there needs to be more representation of the BIPOC population … in Louisville." The original concept was of jockey silk patterns and a patchwork of all the different colors. Chao developed that concept by pushing it in an edgier direction. "I felt like steering away from a Derby theme would help create a new vision for what these horses could be."
Her research into the origins and history of the Kentucky Derby inspired her to title her entry "Common Dignity." "Like the Commonwealth of Kentucky," Chao says, "These patterns are all representative of different cultures. And together, they complete the horse's anatomy."
Her design incorporates Navajo-inspired patterns, the colors of the Pan-African flag, a motif from a Mexican tile, and various Native American beadwork. Some of the details are also a form of self-portrait, particularly her use of the Chinese symbol for luck. "Everyone's got the horseshoe and shamrock. This is another way you can express that. I feel very lucky to be part of [Gallopalooza]."
Chao's parents immigrated to the U.S. from Korea and are of mixed Korean and Chinese descent. She traces her fingers along a motif inspired by a traditional Korean pattern: a rainbow stripe pattern called saekdong, which itself was the result of sewing together fabrics of different colors to create designs in precolonial Korea. In contemporary Louisville — like every city across America — the immeasurable contributions of Black and Brown people are not only foundational, but essential to our collective survival. Chao's use of saekdong in her design is "a symbol of unity and a constant reminder that this is what our community is about. And without each other, we would be nothing."
Gallopalooza horses will race through Louisville all summer. Most of the statues will be available to purchase at auction in October, but in the meantime, anyone can vote for their favorite statue and donate to Brightside at the Gallopalooza OneCause page.
