LEXINGTON, Ky. — Concerns were raised at the Lexington Public Arts Commission's May 5 meeting about the oversight and qualifications of committee members involved in the selection of public art projects, particularly referencing the Common Thread project — the $900,000 sculpture installed last fall on the Fayette County Courthouse plaza for the city's 250th anniversary.

The push came from Commissioner Garry Bibbs, the University of Kentucky sculpture professor who fills the commission's seat designated for a "Professional Artist with Public Art Experience" and who has completed more than 35 public art commissions of his own across the eastern United States.

Bibbs asked staff coordinator Celeste Lewis whether, "going forward, with future large projects," there could be "oversight on who [is] going to be on these committees on the search review." Lewis answered that the commission already opens those review seats to its own members. Bibbs said the gap is upstream of that: "Some of these other commissions, we didn't know how they constructed the review committee, the selection committee, nor did we know what their qualifications were. I would like to see more oversight about us being able to know who those people are. And if they actually qualified to be on these committees."

Pressed for an example, Bibbs said: "I didn't know anything about the project downtown." When another commissioner offered "Common Thread?" Bibbs replied, "Yeah. I didn't know anything about who that committee people were … and that was a really big project. I'm concerned about that … and we don't have any say. I don't think we have to select their people. But we should have some oversight."

Another commissioner noted that A Common Thread sits on courthouse grounds — state property rather than LFUCG land — meaning the commission has no formal purview there. They acknowledged the same "we didn't get to see that" frustration but called it "a bit of a one-off, because it was 250 Lex, and it was a whole different group," adding that "going forward we would be looped into everything."

The conversation then circled to the body's broader role: "The selection of artworks are part of what we call a collection. This is Lexington's art collection. … We want some who's-who who are out there. There is a Picasso in Chicago. We should have that same kind of insight."

A Common Thread, by Los Angeles–based artist Benjamin Ball, was unveiled in October 2025 as the largest single work of public art ever commissioned by the city. Ball was chosen through a national open call run for the 250th anniversary; the selection ran through an independent committee outside the Public Arts Commission's normal process — which is what Monday's discussion circled back to. The piece has drawn pointed criticism from Lexington artists who object to the out-of-state pick and to the cost relative to comparable Ball installations elsewhere — at least one of which was reported to have come in $700,000 cheaper than Lexington's version.

No motion was offered on Bibbs's request. Lewis indicated the commission expects to be looped into selection committees for future large projects.

In other business, commissioners gave fast-track approval to an Idle Hour Park concrete-slab mural to be painted May 28 by fourth- and fifth-grade students from Breckinridge Elementary, conditioned on Parks & Recreation reviewing the adjacent footbridge for code-compliant railings — a recommendation Commissioner Andrew Walls, a licensed civil engineer, anchored to a 30-inch railing-height requirement. The commission also heard that the state has signaled openness to a mural inside the MLK Bridge underpass, a shift from the previously envisioned light installation, and welcomed Hannah Crepps from LFUCG's Division of Planning as the body's newest appointee.