The William T. Young Library is full of treasures. Among those is the tapestry of William T.
Young and his stallion, Storm Cat on Overbrook Farm. In the fall of 1999, architect Michael
McKinnell approached Helena Hernmarck to design and weave a tapestry for the
Library. The tapestry was woven on a 12-foot Swedish rug loom over the course
of nine months. Over seven hundred
colors were used in the tapestry and its final weight is approximately 200
pounds. The tapestry is monumental and a beautiful narrative of Kentucky pride
and history.
Helena Hernmarck is a Swedish-born textile artist whose work
is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum
of Art in New York, the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. and
the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Overbrook Farm was founded by Lexington native, William T.
Young, whose initial gift began the capital campaign that raised money for the
William T. Young Library which opened in April 1998.
Mr. Young began acquiring his foundation broodmares for
Overbrook Farm in the early 1980s.
The
most notable of these was Terlingua, a daughter of champion Secretariat, who
was bred to Storm Bird, a son of Northern Dancer -- a mating which produced the
legendary Storm Cat. Through 2001, the
year that the tapestry was commissioned, Storm Cat had been North America’s
leading sire by earnings for two years (1999 and 2000) and had been leading
sire of two year olds five times. At the
time, Storm Cat was by far the highest priced stallion in the world, commanding
a stud fee of $500,000.
On February 27, 2013, Storm Cat enjoyed his 30th
birthday but due to complications from old age, was euthanized on April 24,
2013. He is buried on Overbrook Farm.
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