Appalachian Arts Alliance to run Bobby Davis Park, expand arts programs

The Appalachian Arts Alliance is moving into Bobby Davis Park and Museum, giving the Hazard nonprofit a bigger role at one of the city’s most recognizable downtown landmarks and setting up a new round of arts programming on Walnut Street.

The alliance said the plan will turn the museum building into an expanded visual arts space with a pottery studio and more room for painting, drawing and charcoal classes. For Perry County residents, that means Bobby Davis Park is no longer just a place to pass by or reserve for a special event. It is being pushed into regular use as a working arts venue.

That shift matters because Bobby Davis Museum & Park has long been tied to Hazard’s civic identity. The city says Lawrence Davis founded it as a memorial to his son, Bobby Davis, and other fallen veterans of World War II, and describes the site as a centerpiece for Hazard. Kentucky Tourism says the museum showcases Perry County history and depicts life in the county from 1850 to 1950, while the city says curator Martha Quigley gives visitors that historical experience.

The park has also been a gathering place, hosting summer games, food, music, plays and the annual Cocktails in the Garden event in October. It can be reserved for weddings and other special occasions, and the city says Summer in the Park brings local artists, theatrical presentations, Appalachian photography and a book fair to the site. The new partnership suggests those uses could grow, not disappear, as the building takes on a stronger arts mission.

The Appalachian Arts Alliance brings its own record of downtown investment to the project. Founded in 2013 after a community visioning session in Hazard, the group hired its first executive director in 2018 and says its mission is to infuse education, entrepreneurship and community empowerment. Its ArtStation opened in July 2020 in the former Greyhound bus station on Main Street, and the alliance says it has released 103 Studio Sessions there.

The new role at Bobby Davis Park fits into that broader strategy. A Studio Appalachia and Appalachian Arts Alliance call for artists described the park as a historic pastoral site that was once a popular tourist destination and said the project will anchor ongoing restoration of the park and reinvention of the museum building. It also set aside $10,000 for a selected public-art project to be presented during Hazard’s Founders Day, signaling that the site is being positioned as both a cultural asset and a downtown anchor for future programming.