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Local artist Char Downs advances to quarterfinals in The People.PADUCAH — Local artist Char Downs is moving on to the quarterfinals of "The People’s Artist", a contest hosted by actor Johnny Depp.If Downs wins, she plans to use some of the prize money to support a public art project in which she is involved.The contest is decided by fan voting.The winner receives $25,000, a feature in Artforum Magazine, and an exhibition at The Art of Elysium's Art Salon in Los Angeles.Each contestant can receive one free vote per person per day, but supporters can also purchase additional votes.All proceeds from paid votes benefit Art of Elysium, a nonprofit organization that provides community art programs in Los Angeles.Downs is the co-owner of Pinecone Gallery and the lead artist for the public arts project Quilt City USA Murals.Downs said she was not sure about entering the contest at first, but eventually came around, thinking she had nothing to lose by trying.“I shared it on Facebook, and I've been telling my friends and family, and people find out about it, and they've been voting for me, and it's like I never expected,” Downs said.“Thursday was the last day of the voting, and they said if you weren't number one, you wouldn't make it.I had dropped down to three, and then I went up to two, and I had been one for that full week.I wasn't sure, and I was still two as far as I was thinking, and then when I was at the hairdresser's, they sent me a message and said you made it to the quarterfinals.” Downs said she did not want to get overexcited yet, but if she won, she had many things she wanted to do with the money.This includes using some prize money to support Quilt City USA Murals, as well as renovating her own arts space at Pinecone Gallery.“Well, a third of it I'm going to donate to this program, and the rest of it I'm going to use to try to redo — not redo — but make my studio in the back weatherproof,” Downs said.“I can't paint or do anything in there in this frill hot summer or in the cold winter, and I need a place to really be able to work.” Downs pointed out that the face of the program, Johnny Depp, was also from West Kentucky, which she felt gave her a unique connection to the competition.She felt it would be nice if she could bring the money back to a program in Western Kentucky that creates public art, like Quilt City USA Murals.“I thought, well, if I win it, $25,000 is a lot of money,” Downs said.“Why don't I help out the project, which I'm involved with, and put my money where my mouth is, instead of going and asking people for money all the time for this project, or for sponsors.” Votes for Downs to make the Semi-finals start online at 12 p.m., on June 15.Downs will also be dedicating a new mural for Quilt City USA Mural's on June 15 at 3:30 at the floodwall in front of the Paducah-McCracken Co.Convention & Expo Center.More information on the event can be found on Quilt City USA Murals Facebook.