Campbellsville University

Campbellsville University former employee paints wall at physical plant

Campbellsville University former employee paints wall at physical plant

By Jesse Harp | 12/22/2016

Seated in Myna Graham’s home, with the painting her husband painted now in their home. From left are: Front row -- Myna Graham; Victoria Graham, Jerry’s daughter-in-law, married to Michael. Back row: Michael Graham, Jerry’s son; Lucas Graham, Michael’s son; and Jerry Keith Graham, Jerry’s oldest son. Keith lives in Nicholasville, Ky., and made preps for the installation and helped put the painting in their house. (Campbellsville University Photo by Jesse Harp)

Seated in Myna Graham’s home, with the painting her husband painted now in their home. From left are: Front row — Myna Graham; Victoria Graham, Jerry’s daughter-in-law, married to Michael. Back row: Michael Graham, Jerry’s son; Lucas Graham, Michael’s son; and Jerry Keith Graham, Jerry’s oldest son. Keith lives in Nicholasville, Ky., and made preps for the installation and helped put the painting in their house. (Campbellsville University Photo by Jesse Harp)

Dec. 22, 2016
For Immediate Release

By Jesse Harp, student news writer

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Campbellsville University's physical plant is not only a facility in which employees cater to electrical needs, but also a place where some, like the late Jerry Graham, have come to express their hidden passions and talents.

A while after Graham, a former employee at the physical plant, died someone told his wife, Myna Graham, that they see his painting every day at lunch. Before this, Myna said that she did not even know a painting existed.

Graham's coworkers told Myna that before her husband died, he would paint every day during his lunch break. Eventually, the painting developed into a 12 ft. by 5 ft. landscape, displaying a vast blue lake, rolling valleys and detailed wildlife.

Myna said that her husband's painting was inspired entirely by his imagination, and that he did not have a background in art, except for some classes he took years ago.

Graham did paint images on rocks, Myna said. He would include images of landscapes and animals, which were all very detailed.

“He would say that he was not very good,” Myna said.

Damon Graham, son of Myna Graham and the late Jerry Graham, takes down the painting his father painted and that hung in Campbellsville University's Physical Plant for several years. (Campbellsville University Photo by Jesse Harp)
Damon Graham, son of Myna Graham and the late Jerry Graham, takes down the painting his father painted and that hung in Campbellsville University's Physical Plant for several years. (Campbellsville University Photo by Jesse Harp)

Myna and she and Graham's three sons, Jerry Keith Graham of Nicholasville, Ky., Michael Graham of Louisville, Ky. and Damon Graham of Campbellsville all came to the physical plant on Damon's birthday to have the mural cut out of the wall of the break room. Myna said that she planned to have it mounted on her living room wall.

The drawing was painted on a wall in the old physical plant in a house at the corner of Matthew and Spring streets in Campbellsville. When the first Men's Village was built, the building was torn down, and the painting was moved to the current physical plant's location at 205 Laura Sue Humphress Drive, Campbellsville.

“It's like taking a piece of him home,” Myna said.

Graham was 61 years old when he died Aug. 8, 2006. He retired from Houchens Market in Campbellsville and was also employed by Cox Interior. He served in the United States Army and was buried in Harden Cemetery with full military honors.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 4,500 students offering over 80 programs of study including 19 master's degrees, six postgraduate areas and seven pre-professional programs. The university has off-campus centers in Louisville, Harrodsburg, Somerset and Hodgenville with instructional sites in Elizabethtown, Owensboro and Summersville and a full complement of online programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.