The Artists
Robert Dafford, Muralist
Robert Dafford originally came to Paducah in the fall of 1995 on invitation from Kelly Haskins Hack on behalf of the City of Paducah. Bill Schroeder, an influential Paducah businessman, and the Paducah-McCracken County Visitors Bureau encouraged the city planners to seek out this renowned muralist. The Gus Ed Hank and Dick Babbitt families had seen his giant clarinet painting in New Orleans and had returned home to Paducah raving about his work. The purpose of his original visit was to advise the city about the viability of painting on its floodwall which borders the city’s historic downtown. The west-facing wall gets a huge amount of afternoon sun and the extreme damp, windy and fluctuating temperatures were a concern for the city and interested sponsors.
Dafford, a resident of Lafayette, Louisiana, fell in love with the city on his first visit. After being introduced to several local citizens and learning about Paducah’s history, he stated, “This river town has vast and colorful history and would be an ideal location to paint images from its past”. He and his team of talented muralists were commissioned to begin painting Paducah’s floodwall the following spring. Dafford has painted over 500 murals across the United States, Canada, France, England and Belgium. He has been painting murals, signs and fine art paintings for over 50 years. In the past 40 years, Dafford has concentrated on working along the Ohio River, painting over 200 large historical images of cities on their floodwalls, using trompe l’ceil, advanced perspective, and realist technique. Many riverboat and motor coach tours make stops along the Ohio River specifically to see these murals. The Dafford Murals are created with the purpose of boosting downtown development in small communities. Paducah’s extraordinary 60+ mural panels are certainly a tremendous attraction for anyone who visits its revitalized downtown.
Herb Roe, Muralist
“After high school, I attended the Columbus College of Art and Design for a year. When I returned home to Portsmouth, Ohio for the summer, I met Robert Dafford and began working for him as a summer job on the then newly commissioned Portsmouth Floodwall Mural Project. That fall, Mr. Dafford asked if I’d be interested in working for him for a year instead of immediately returning to school at C.C.A.D. I decided to take a year off, and it turned into many more, and what began as a summer job turned into a lifelong career.
In my third year working for Dafford Murals, we began our work in Paducah, a town I’ve grown to know and love over the years. Although I’d continued to work on my own art, which ranged over a variety of subjects and mediums, in 2007 I struck off on my own with ChromeSun Productions. It’s given me the freedom to work more on my own designs and commissions, to further pursue the career in art that I’ve worked for since I was 12 years old. Since my departure from Dafford Murals, I’ve worked closely with them and with the Wall to Wall committee to stay an active participant in the Paducah Floodwall Mural Project. I believe I’ve done some of my best work here and can’t wait to see what the project holds in the future.”
Dafford Muralist Herb Roe, assisted by his daughter, Rachael, (pictured above) refurbishes borders on the Civil War-Battle of Paducah mural. 2022 concluded painting new images on the floodwall in the three blocks on the city-side of “the wall” and maintenance of the existing project began. Herb spends a couple of months a year in Paducah and has been in the center of Paducah’s floodwall mural project since its conception in 1996. Extensive research and serious attention to detail are considered the rule of thumb when these artists paint a city’s history.
Members of the Dafford Mural Team who have painted in Paducah:
Robert Dafford, Herb Roe, Benny Graeff, Douglas Dafford, Miriam Dafford, Mike Doherty, Justin Montovan, John Norris, Chris Condon, Robert Baxter, Sandy Lewis, Jeff Moss, Jason Brake, Brett Chigoy, Chase Innis and Miguel Lasala
