Ed Lawrence, Public Information Officer, Kentucky Arts Council

(502) 564-3757 x 4803 or ed.lawrence@ky.gov

Steven Jones, Executive Director, Capitol Arts Alliance

            Visitors to Bowling Green’s International Festival this past September might have noticed a strong presence of Bosnian visual artists, musicians, dancers and actors.  That was just the beginning point for the Capitol Arts Alliance’s effort to reach the estimated 5,000 residents of Warren County from the former country of Yugoslavia. The project will continue throughout the year to conserve and present the Bosnian culture to the whole community and involve Bosnians in Bowling Green community life through the arts.  The Capitol Arts Alliance is in the process of identifying and surveying this population group and developing marketing materials and study guides translated into Serbo-Croatian.

Funded in part by the Kentucky Arts Council’s START Initiative grant, this is one of a number of projects conducted by performing arts centers across the state to develop projects that increase participation in the arts. “This is a win-win situation,” says Arts Council spokesman Ed Lawrence. “Kentuckians get to gain a better cultural understanding of their newly arrived neighbors through the arts and new Kentuckians have the opportunity to become quickly engaged in their community through the universal language of the arts.” 

START initiative grants to performing arts centers are funded through the Wallace Foundation START Initiative. The Kentucky Arts Council is one of 13 state arts agencies selected by The Wallace Foundation to participate in the START (State Arts Partnership for Cultural Participation) Initiative.

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The Kentucky Arts Council is a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet.  Working in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arts Council invests in programs that develop vibrant communities, provide lifelong education in the arts and support arts participation.  Every $1 in grant funds awarded by the Kentucky Arts Council helps grantees secure $15 in earned income and matching funds from individuals, philanthropic sources and other levels of government.