Floyd Collins exhibition opens ahead of musical at SKyPAC

Published 9:41 am Friday, January 24, 2025

By David Horowitz

DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ

david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com

The Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center opened a new exhibition Wednesday featuring the story of famed cave explorer Floyd Collins.

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Around 40 attended the Wednesday opening, which comes ahead of the Ramsay Theatre Company’s “Floyd Collins” musical, premiering March 8 at SkyPAC. The exhibition, at SKyPAC’s Goodwin Gallery, is open to the public during the facility’s open hours; SKyPAC is also engaging school groups to experience the exhibit, according to SKyPAC’s Dillon Godolphin.

In 1925, Collins entered Sand Cave and became trapped 200 feet underground after accidentally dislodging a 27-pound rock onto his ankle. News outlets across the U.S. turned the dire situation into a national affair as a rescue effort spanned more than 17 days but ultimately failed.

“It’s a real commemoration of an individual – not just for our region, but really it was a national story – on how profound not just his life was, but also the culminating event, the tragedy as well, in his entrapment,” Godolphin said. “Floyd Collins is really a pivotal part of this region, especially for the cave systems and the karst region just north of us and part of our area here in Bowling Green, as well.”

It’s sponsored by Aviation Heritage Park, with AHP Executive Director Bob Bubnis leading the curation.

A tall display panel stands in the middle of the exhibition that compiles century-old newspaper clippings and photographs pertinent to Collins’ story.

A wide variety of artifacts and other items – postcards, sculptures, a blasting box used for mining, and so on – line the walls; sequenced around them are enlarged photographs with textual context about each of the musical’s five acts. Numerous partners – including Mammoth Cave National Park, Hidden River Cave National Cave Museum, Chris Carmichael and Tim Donley – loaned items, expertise and time, Godolphin said.

“One of the main features to help marry the production to the exhibit is the inclusion of acts in the exhibit,” Godolphin said. “That way we can take the information from the production, the lyrics and the characterization, and compare it and display it with the actual history – so, that way we show what is being told, what moods are relevant and accurate, and … you may be able to empathize with these characters through the history.

“For instance, if we’re looking into Floyd’s ambitions for caving, the items reflect caving in general at the time, cave formations, and then also the tools and experience possibly needed for caving at the time.”

Bubnis thanked those who contributed – people who, he said, “collected these artifacts, found the stories, learned about them, protected them and treasured them for this day.

“In the process, what we ended up doing is kind of uniting everybody in the area and saying, ‘You know what? This came from here. This is a story that rose from here and got national attention,’ ” Bubnis said.

He also expressed a hope that it causes people to want to see the production and explore museums in southcentral Kentucky.

Chris Carmichael, one of the donors, is the grandson of Henry St. George Tucker Carmichael – back then, the general superintendent of the Kentucky Rock Asphalt Company, and one of those who stayed with Collins as he attempted to aid in the rescue – showed appreciation for the cross-pollination of arts and history.

“I think this is really super great for our community – the fact that we can cross pollinate the arts and history,” Chris Carmichael said.

Léa Schenkl, the company/stage manager at Arts of Southern Kentucky, said “The exhibit reminds me of why art is so important and also the musical – because it revives these stories that may have been lost to time, and it doesn’t just revive them for the region, but it revives them for the country.”

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