It's not the first place you might picture a piece of public art being situated, but the more you talk to the people behind the project at the entrance to the Fayette County Detention Center, the more the meaning comes into view.
"There are three large rusted steel beams that rise to mimic the gesture of arms and hands outstretched, and they cradle a nest from which arises a multicolor, abstract piece to symbolize the birth of hope," says creator, Dave Caudill.
The abstract piece he's referring to looks like a flame emerging from a tangle of metal. He says when approached about the now 35-foot-tall, 3-ton project, he wanted a subject that spoke to everyone entering or exiting the center — whether staff, families, or inmates.
And he landed on "hope."
"If there was ever a building that needed more hope, it's the county jail," Corrections Chief Scott Colvin says.
It's a message that corrections chief Colvin says speaks directly to employees heading into a job that he admits takes a toll on workers, and to those who face the challenge of living behind bars.
As for those who are leaving after serving a sentence...
"As they come down this hill and they come through our gate and the first thing that they see in their new freedom is this beautiful sculpture. Let it remind them things will get better, can get better," he says.
The Birth of Hope is visible at the corner of Old Frankfurt Pike and Old Frankfurt Circle.