LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — For more than a decade, Kiptoo Tarus has been a notable artist in Lexington. His life changed when he met University of Kentucky professor Garry Bibbs in Kenya, setting the foundation for Tarus's move to America to work on his craft.
"You got to put in the time, you got to put in the work," Tarus said.
"Being a tinkerer as a small kid, just you know, playing with things, trying to repair things, or trying to find problems in things that don't even have problems and spoiling things, making things. It's always been within, you know, like I have to play with something, I have to work on something.
That has always been able to build my interest, my portfolio since I was a kid, it's just been building itself and when I got into art school it was just so evident that this is something I wanted to do," Tarus noted.
A visit from Dr. Bibbs in Kenya on vacation sparked a long-lasting friendship.
"I'm sitting here talking to him about how to design aesthetics and how to build a piece and he just found that very fascinating," Dr. Bibbs said.
After spending a few days with Tarus, Bibbs mentioned graduate school.
"Bibbs hasn't just been the person who got me here, he's also been like my father," Tarus said.
Kiptto left his job at a bank in Kenya, traveled to New York, and then to Lexington, Kentucky.
"I wanted something more and sculpture has always been like what I wanted to do," Tarus said.
In Georgetown, LEX18 produced a piece on Tarus' sculpture of Medina Spirit at Old Friends Farm three years ago. He gave a tree new life in the process.
"Once you install a sculpture, a piece, you know it's there to be visible by one and everybody," Tarus said.
From his studio to his most recent project installing benches at African Cemetery #2 for Juneteenth ceremonies, Tarus continues to take on a wide range of projects working with his business partner Mike Finucane.
"It's wonderful workin' with 'Kipp' because he has such an amazing talent," Finucane said.
With a wonderful eye for art, Tarus is offering this perspective.
"This is art, this is another way of appreciating what life is, and there's nothing better than through the arts," Tarus added.
For Kiptoo, that's fulfillment.
"When I see like an elderly person, or a young kid, and they're like wow, they're so excited about something they'd just seen that I did...that's my kicker," Tarus said.
He does it time and again.
Tarus got his big break in 2015 when he was commissioned by the city to create six sculptures for the Breeders' Cup Classic.
