A gem of modern architecture, tucked into a Mid-Century neighborhood that is somewhat off Hopkinsville’s beaten path, will be the focus of a public program, The Light: How People Create Room for Faith, at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 28, at Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Johan Westenburg organized the program. He had first seen the church several months ago while driving on Fairview Drive.
“I was smitten by the little campus: three modern buildings, a courtyard connecting the office building to the sanctuary, a central grassy area surrounded by a chapel, a meeting hall, classrooms and the sanctuary,” Westenburg wrote in a Facebook post. “But it was the chapel that made me think of how light is used in art to connect people to their spiritual needs.”
Westenburg told Hoptown Chronicle, “It’s really an amazing campus. It reflects a lot of the ideas of openness and inclusiveness of American society in the 1960s.”
The program will include a look at art by American abstract painter Bill McCartin, whose work is similar to an aesthetic seen in the church’s architecture.
Westenburg — who lives downtown in the old Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph building, another of the city’s notable landmarks — said he’s spoken to a few people who have a personal connection to Cumberland Presbyterian Church, including some who were married in the chapel. He hopes they will come to the program.
(Jennifer P. Brown is the editor and founder of Hoptown Chronicle. Reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org.)
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
