2nd Story

2nd Story 2nd Story is a curatorial space in Lexington, KY that presents exhibitions and public programs.

SATURDAY, MAY 2 | 11:00 amPHOTOGRAPHY WALK WITH TIM DAVIS325 W Main StreetJoin acclaimed photographer Tim Davis for a Sp...
05/01/2026

SATURDAY, MAY 2 | 11:00 am
PHOTOGRAPHY WALK WITH TIM DAVIS
325 W Main Street

Join acclaimed photographer Tim Davis for a Special Event in downtown Lexington. He states: “Remember the Bear Who Went over the Mountain, ‘to see what you can see?’ Photography is an excuse to spend your time looking at the world. Take a one hour walk with photographer Tim Davis around a neighborhood you likely know better than he does but might look at with less intention. Bring your camera, or don’t. We are here to look.”

Tim Davis’s photo walk in Downtown Lexington on Saturday is in association with his newly published limited-edition book, which pairs a series of amazing images he shot in Lexington and Frankfort KY last year with lines from Thomas Merton’s poem “How To Enter a Big City.” The book was published to coincide with the TEMPORARY MONUMENT ATL/LEX exhibition … and is available for purchase at the show.

This program is part of Temporary Monument ATL/LEX, a pop-up exhibition that brings together artists from Atlanta and Lexington. Organized by the Temporary Art Center in collaboration with 2nd Story and the UK Art Museum, in addition to cultural producers Daniel Freed and Katherine St. Paul Hill, and real estate developer Katie Kaufman, with support from VisitLex.









Artist Self-Help, A Brief HistorySATURDAY, APRIL 253:00-4:30 PM 325 West Main Street, 2nd floor Join Lexington artists f...
04/22/2026

Artist Self-Help, A Brief History
SATURDAY, APRIL 25
3:00-4:30 PM
325 West Main Street, 2nd floor

Join Lexington artists for a panel discussion about the history of pop-up exhibitions and artist initiatives in our city. Participants include Becky Alley, Kurt Gohde, Rae Goodwin, Georgia Henkel, and Bob Morgan; moderated by Rachel Hooper.

This program is part of Temporary Monument ATL/LEX, a pop-up exhibition that brings together artists from Atlanta and Lexington. Organized by the Temporary Art Center in collaboration with 2nd Story and the UK Art Museum, in addition to cultural producers Daniel Freed and Katherine St. Paul Hill, and real estate developer Katie Kaufman, with support from VisitLex.














Big thanks to these two dynamos for coming up to Lexington for the opening reception and talking about their paintings! ...
04/20/2026

Big thanks to these two dynamos for coming up to Lexington for the opening reception and talking about their paintings!


With works on view by .tillman and , too! 🙌🏼

SURFACE TENSION is on view at 2nd Story,
Tuesdays through Fridays, 1 to 5 pm, and by request any time.

SURFACE TENSION opens TOMORROW (Saturday, April 18) at 6:00 and includes 4 pantings by Carlos Rosales-Silva. The bold c...
04/17/2026

SURFACE TENSION opens TOMORROW (Saturday, April 18) at 6:00 and includes 4 pantings by Carlos Rosales-Silva.


The bold colors, geometric patterns, and richly textured surfaces of Rosales-Silvas paintings are informed by the visual culture and vernacular architecture of his childhood in El Paso and the U.S.–Mexico borderlands. Composed of crushed stone, sand, and pigment, they recall the materiality of adobe homes and stucco buildings, thereby embedding labor, geography, and colonial histories into the paint itself.
Carlos Rosales-Silva was born on the border of the United States and Mexico in El Paso, Texas. He holds an MFA from The School of Visual Arts, NY, and a BFA from the University of Texas Austin. Rosales-Silva has been an artist-in-residence at Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (2024); Abrons Art Center in New York, NY (2021); Residency Unlimited in New York, NY (2020); Artpace in San Antonio, Texas (2018); and at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, NY (2017). Recent exhibitions include Sargent’s Daughters (Los Angeles, CA) and Ruiz Healy Art (New York, NY), The School of Visual Arts (New York, NY), Sadie Halie Projects (Minneapolis, MN), North Loop (Williamstown, MA), Seasons LA (Los Angeles, CA), Latinx Project at NYU (New York, NY), White Columns (New York, NY), Ruiz Healy Art (San Antonio, TX),the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (Omaha, NE), University of Kentucky Art Museum (Lexington, KY),among others.

Other artists in the exhibition are Jana Cariddi, Trish Tillman, and Ben Tollefson.
.tillman

Artwork pictured:
Carlos Rosales-Silva: Estrellita, 2025. Glass bead and crushed stone in acrylic on panel, 24 x 20 inches.

SURFACE TENSION opens TOMORROW (Saturday, April 28) at 6:00 and includes paintings by Jana Cariddi. Embellished with c...
04/17/2026

SURFACE TENSION opens TOMORROW (Saturday, April 28) at 6:00 and includes paintings by Jana Cariddi.


Embellished with candy-colored airbrushed patterns, resin, and marbles, Cariddi’s shaped paintings allude to anatomical viscera and cellular forms, straddling a line between the humorous and grotesque. By balancing humor and unease, her work evokes both childhood wonder and bodily anxiety, reflecting on the discordant harmonies that underlie our physical and emotional experiences.

Jana Marie Cariddi is an artist whose practice moves between painting, drawing, and sculpture. She earned her MFA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her BFA in from the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD). Cariddi’s work has been exhibited internationally and across North America, including Pamplemousse Gallery, Richmond, VA; La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angles, CA; Bellevue Art Museum, Seattle, WA; Artipoeus Salon, Berlin; and the SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA, among others. She recently participated in the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency (Granville, NY), in addition to past residencies in Berlin, Germany; Kumamoto, Japan; and Savannah, GA. She will be a 2027 fellow at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico. Cariddi is currently a Windgate Visiting Artist Fellow in Jackson, Mississippi.

Other artists in the exhibition are Carlos Rosales Silva, Trish Tillman, and Ben Tollefson.
tillman


Artwork pictured:
Jana Cariddi: THE FORCE OF ALL THINGS THAT HAVE YET TO HAPPEN, 2025. Acrylic, resin, and pumice stone on custom wood panel, 30 x 43 inches.

SUNDAY, APRIL 19 (3:00—4:30 PM)Panel discussion: Literature + LexingtonA program affiliated with TEMPORARY MONUMENT ATL/...
04/17/2026

SUNDAY, APRIL 19 (3:00—4:30 PM)
Panel discussion: Literature + Lexington
A program affiliated with TEMPORARY MONUMENT ATL/LEX
325 W Main Street, 2nd Floor

Our city has a vibrant history of acclaimed poets, essayists, and novelists, as well as intrepid publishers, and venerable literary organizations. This panel asks three Lexington writers about their experiences working in the city. Participants include Gwenda Bond, Katerina Stoykova, and Frank X Walker; moderated by Stuart Horodner.

Gwenda Bond is the New York Times bestselling author of many novels, and co-founder of the Lexington Writer’s Room.



Katerina Stoykova is a bilingual poet, translator, and founder and senior editor of Accents Publishing.


Frank X Walker is Professor of English and African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky, and co- founder of the Affrilachian Poets.



Stuart Horodner is Director of the University of Kentucky Art Museum, and co-organizer of TEMPORARY MONUMENT ATL/LEX.


Temporary Monument: ATL/LEX brings together artists from Atlanta and Lexington in a pop-up exhibition organized by the in collaboration with .art and the in addition to cultural producers and and real estate developer
Sponsored by

SURFACE TENSION opens Saturday at 6:00 and includes 3 sculptures by Trish Tillman!Trish Tillman Browning Tillman’s sculp...
04/16/2026

SURFACE TENSION opens Saturday at 6:00 and includes 3 sculptures by Trish Tillman!
Trish Tillman Browning

Tillman’s sculptures combine leather, chrome hardware, and chains into meticulously stitched, constructed forms. Her use of fetishistic materials and playful shapes, often rendered in a pastel palette, set up a contrast between innocence and eroticism, subtly evoking power imbalances and gendered systems of control.

Trish Tillman lives in and works in Brooklyn, NY. She holds an MFA from School of Visual Arts. Recent exhibitions include Asya Geisberg Gallery, NYC; Andrew Rafacz, Chicago, IL; Good Naked, NYC; Bravin Lee Projects, NYC; COUNTY, Palm Beach, FL; Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington, DE; VisArts, Richmond, VA; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Arlington, VA. Tillman is a recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, the Hopper Prize, Fountainhead Residency, The Mildred Thompson Residency and the VisArts + Quirk Residency. She has been featured in UNTITLED, NADA and Future Art Fairs. Her work has been reviewed in ARTFORUM, Sculpture Magazine, Vogue and Juxtapose, among others. She is a 2026 Artist-in-Residence at the Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans.

Other artists in the exhibition are Jana Cariddi, Carlos Rosales Silva, and Ben Tollefson.
🅙🅐🅝🅐 🅜🅐🅡🅘🅔 🅒🅐🅡🅘🅓🅓🅘
Ben Tollefson
Carlos Rosales-Silva

Artwork pictured:
Trish Tillman, Witness Marks, 2025. Leather, UV ink, wood, foam, thread, horse hair, mirror, polymer clay, acrylic, chrome ring, cotton. 26 x 31 x 3 inches.

SURFACE TENSION opens Saturday at 6:00 and includes 4 paintings by Ben Tollefson. Ben Tollefson Drawing on Rococo excess...
04/16/2026

SURFACE TENSION opens Saturday at 6:00 and includes 4 paintings by Ben Tollefson.
Ben Tollefson

Drawing on Rococo excess and camp sensibilities, Ben Tollefson’s canvases pair hyper-finished, illusionistic imagery with moments that foreground painting’s capacity to deceive. Treating the picture plane as a theatrical space, he invites viewers to pull back the curtain on these constructed scenes and consider their parallels to the daily performance of gender.

Ben Tollefson is an artist and curator in Savannah, Georgia. After receiving his painting MFA from the Savannah College of Art & Design (2014), Tollefson has shown his work in group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States, including at Laney Contemporary, Savannah, GA; Brintz-County Gallery, Palm Beach, FL; Cleo the Project Space, Savannah, GA; and Spring Break Art Show in New York. His work has been featured in IMPACT Magazine and Burnaway Magazine. He currently serves as Curator at the SCAD Museum of Art, where he has organized exhibitions by Zanele Muholi, Nina Chanel Abney, Marcel Dzama, Roxy Paine, and others.

Other artists featured in the exhibition are Jana Cariddi, Carlos Rosales Silva, and Trish Tillman.
🅙🅐🅝🅐 🅜🅐🅡🅘🅔 🅒🅐🅡🅘🅓🅓🅘
Trish Tillman Browning
Carlos Rosales-Silva

Image pictured: Ben Tollefson: Is The Sky Painted, 2026. Oil on canvas. 24 x 20 inches.

This Saturday, several Lexington artists participating in TEMPORARY MONUMENT ATLANTA/LEX will be on hand for an informal...
04/16/2026

This Saturday, several Lexington artists participating in TEMPORARY MONUMENT ATLANTA/LEX will be on hand for an informal tour/discussion: Mia Cinelli Hannah Smith Crystal Gregory SUBSTUDIO Dianna* Settles Rae Goodwin Travis Townsend David Kaiser
2 to 3 PM
325 Main Street, 2nd floor

Then head over to 2nd Story for the opening of SURFACE TENSION, an exhibition featuring work by Jana Cariddi, Carlos Rosales-Silva, Trish Tillman, and Ben Tollefson.
Artists Jana Cariddi and Ben Tollefson are in town and will be on site to talk about their work!
6 to 8 PM
522 West Short Street, 2nd floor
🅙🅐🅝🅐 🅜🅐🅡🅘🅔 🅒🅐🅡🅘🅓🅓🅘 Ben Tollefson Carlos Rosales-Silva Trish Tillman Browning

stuart horodner
UK Art Museum
2nd Story
Temporary Art Center
Daniel Freed
katherine
Scott Ingram
VisitLEX
325 West Main
Katie Kaufman

SURFACE TENSION opens Saturday!! Join us for an exhibition reception to on Saturday, April 18 from 6 to 8 PM.The exhibit...
04/15/2026

SURFACE TENSION opens Saturday!!

Join us for an exhibition reception to on Saturday, April 18 from 6 to 8 PM.

The exhibition brings together works by Jana Cariddi, Carlos Roasales Silva, Trish Tillman, and Ben Tollefson — artists who each approach the surface of their work as an active site where play and experimentation give way to deeper social and psychological inquiry.

Artist talks by Jana Cariddi and Ben Tollefson begin at 6 PM!

🅙🅐🅝🅐 🅜🅐🅡🅘🅔 🅒🅐🅡🅘🅓🅓🅘
Ben Tollefson
Trish Tillman Browning
Carlos Rosales-Silva

Address

522 W Short Street
Lexington, KY
40507

Opening Hours

Tuesday 1am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 1pm - 5:30pm
Thursday 1pm - 5:30pm
Friday 1pm - 5:30pm

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