A Cardinal connection 7,000 miles from home

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When College of Arts and Sciences alumnus Vince Monks ’00 traveled to Kenya to visit an orphanage supported by his nonprofit, he expected to see artwork celebrating the region’s culture, wildlife and landscapes.

Instead, he found an unexpected reminder of home.

While visiting a market in Kisumu, a city on the shores of Lake Victoria, Monks spotted a painting of the Louisville Cardinal among dozens of distinctly Kenyan works. The discovery came during a trip to support Gathering Grace, the nonprofit he and his wife founded to provide care and assistance for orphans and widows in East Africa, primarily in Ethiopia and Kenya.

“Among all the artwork depicting various Kenyan landscapes, wildlife, culture…I suddenly spotted a very familiar image: the Louisville Cardinal.” Monks said.

Curious about the painting’s origin, Monks purchased the piece and spoke with the artist, Andrew Omari, who works under the name “Omash.” According to Omari, a visitor to his shop years earlier had requested a painting of the Cardinal. The image proved popular, and he continued creating versions of it despite having little understanding of the deep pride it represented to the Cardinal community.

“What made it even better was that there were no other college or university images in his shop,” Monks said. “Everything else was distinctly Kenyan.”

For Monks, the encounter highlighted the unexpected ways connections can span continents. His work through Gathering Grace has taken him thousands of miles from Louisville, but the sight of the Cardinal in a Kenyan marketplace served as a reminder of the university’s far-reaching alumni community and enduring spirit.

“Seeing that little piece of Louisville [more than] 7,000 miles from home was pretty awesome,” Monks said.