There has been scuttlebutt within the arts community around Paducah lately that the Yeiser Arts Center, which is the city of Paducah's "official" visual arts venue for the City. It has been located in the historic "Market House" building in the heart of the historical district near the river in downtown Paducah. It started in the late 1950s by some very creative and courageous folks who bucked the tide of the "atomic city" and pushed for some visual arts awareness and investment by the city.

At the beginning, it was called the Paducah Art Guild, but in the recent past, it was changed to the Yeiser center after Mary Yeiser, one of the important artists from Paducah that lead in the formation of the center. At one time, it had a vibrant board, strong community support, a full time director, brought in important shows from around the region and nation, and acquired fine pieces of work. In fact, at one time, a piece was purchased from every show.

Now, with the city focused on the "Lowertown" arts district, the Yeiser has become the forgotten child of the Paducah art scene. While there are still some important shows going on there, there is no longer a full time director, and the center is running a deficit. Now there is talk that the board of the Yeiser is strongly considering selling off their permanent collection.

This would be a huge mistake. A city that liquidates it's permanent art collection, while at the same time advertising itself all across the Midwest as an art's center shows a certain schizophrenia. Selling your permanent art collection, regardless of the value, is like selling the family heirlooms to pay a credit card bill. It just reflects bad on the community. There are some very nice pieces in the collection, with regional importance. I, for one, vote NO on selling the Yeiser's permanent collection.

Also, even if the city does go ahead with plans to restore the Market House to a Market, a plan which can be argued as to its wisdom, the city needs to continue to have a city arts center. Perhaps it should all be done at the Carson Center performing arts center. Maybe it just needs to be moved somewhere else downtown. But, abandoning the center in the wake of selling off the collection sends the wrong message about where the so called city leader's hearts are when it comes to supporting the arts.