Drapery
at the Governor’s Mansion

In memory of the late Kay Stacey

The Governor’s Mansion has an incredible history throughout every room, but the one-piece we want to focus on this month is the drapes hung in the State Dining Room, State Drawing Room, and Capitol Suite. These were either hand-curated, stitched, and reworked by the late drapery extraordinaire, Kay Stacey. Along with the assistance of Greg Ellis, she helped to preserve these historical drapes in many ways. Let’s take a deeper look! The State Dining Room was ready for a redesign, so First Lady Donna H. Edwards and former Executive Director of the Governor’s Mansion Preservation Foundation, Sandy McClelland, worked with Kay to find a stately and timeless design. See the photo below of First Lady Donna H. Edwards and Kay Stacey in front of the State Dining Room drapes on the day of their installation. Next, we’ll go to the State Drawing Room. Although installed by a prior administration, these drapes underwent a reworking by Kay Stacey for longer life in 2019. The logo on the bottom of these drapes is the same logo seen throughout the mansion – the GMPF logo created by Auseklis Ozols, the same man who created the mural in the mansion foyer. Kay made the drapes in the Capitol Suite during the Foster administration, and her team preserved this classic look by reworking them and creating a bedspread for the king-size bed out of a few panels from the drapes. The goal of the Mansion Preservation Foundation is to PRESERVE the history of the house. Kay was always such a joy to work with, and we will miss her dearly. Her work will live on, through her projects at the mansion, forever.