Beau Haddock   Media Communications / Marketing

(502) 564-9738

                        The Kentucky Craft Marketing Program staff (KCMP) are tweaking last minute details for Kentucky Crafted: The Market 2005 and are proud to announce a record breaking number of exhibitors. Now in its 24th year, this award-winning annual Kentucky handcrafted gift market is scheduled to open on March 5, Saturday, 9am - 6pm and March 6, Sunday, 10am - 5pm, (EST) at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, South Wing A, Louisville. Admission for adults is $8.00 and children ages 15 and under is free. Parking is $5.00.

             To date, 317 exhibitors of fine traditional, folk and contemporary crafts, two-dimensional visual art, musical recordings, books, and food products are expected to participate in the 2005 Market. Kentucky cultural entertainment and children’s craft activities (ages 4-12) will also be included.

             New this year is The Designer Showcase. “Live everyday surrounded by Kentucky’s best” is the theme of the Designer Showcase (Booth C) created by interior design students from the University of Kentucky in conjunction with KCMP. In this first ever collaboration with the University of Kentucky School of Interior Design and the Market’s silver sponsor, Osram Sylvania, products from Market exhibitors will be featured in room settings to illustrate how Kentucky’s impressive cache of art, craft, and other products can be used in everyday settings that reflect today’s decorating trends. The Designer Showcase will be located inside South Wing A, near the main entrance.

             Returning for the third year due to its popularity with both exhibitors and buyers is the Gallery Section. Modeled after larger national shows, The Gallery offers a designated exhibit area to juried participants and visual artists with unique, one-of-a-kind or limited-production items suitable for museums, collectors, and commissions.

            The Kentucky Arts Council (KAC) will promote the work of artists who have received Kentucky Arts Council Fellowships or who have been accepted into programs such as the Performing Arts on Tour Directory. The KAC booth will include the works of Kentucky artists in the form of recorded music and videos for sale to wholesale and retail customers. 

             Old-time, jazz, gospel, chamber, roots music, and more… whatever your tastes, get ready for a great line-up at this year’s Cultural Stage. The Cultural Stage features artists from the Kentucky Arts Council’s 2004-2005 Performing Arts Directory (PAD) and the 2005 PAD Supplement.  These performers and many more will have CDs and cassettes for sale at The Marketplace, the Kentucky Arts Council’s Booth H, next to the Cultural Stage.  Also look for exciting drama from the Kentucky Historical Society Theater, performers from the Governor’s School for the Arts and food demonstrations from Kentucky Proud exhibitors.

             The Demonstration Area is sponsored by the Kentucky Folklife Program, which has done extensive research on the white oak basket-making tradition along Highway 31W.  The basket-making exhibit will be on display in the center aisles of the Market that will feature traditional artists from the Mammoth Cave Basketmakers Guild. 

             Young visitors can experience the excitement of the hands-on educational art and craft area in aisle 100 sponsored by the Kentucky Historical Society and the Little Loomhouse. Learn about the importance of rivers in Kentucky through boat building demonstrations and hands-on activities inspired by the Kentucky History Center’s exhibit, A River Runs Through Us.  Experience the joys of hand weaving, as members of the Little Loomhouse share the life’s work of Lou Tate with guests of all ages.

             Based on reader nominations from a national on-line survey, American Style Magazine has selected Kentucky Crafted: The Market as one of the Top 25 Art Fairs and Festivals in the country. “We came in #15, and are included among some very prestigious companies,” said Fran Redmon, director of the Kentucky Craft Marketing Program. For the 10th time the Southeast Tourism Society has named Kentucky Crafted: The Market as one of the Top Twenty Events In The Southeast.

             The craft industry in Kentucky contributes 252 million dollars to the state’s economy and has an impact of an additional 147 million dollars from out-of-state sales. The Market, a collaborative effort among several state agencies and cabinets which promote Kentucky’s rich cultural heritage while supporting the state’s economy, generates 2 to 3 million dollars annually in direct sales.

             The Kentucky Craft Marketing Program is a division of the Kentucky Arts Council, Commerce Cabinet, Commonwealth of Kentucky.  For more information, call 888 KY CRAFT (592-7238); or visit the Program's site at www.kycraft.ky.gov.

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Since 1981, the Craft Marketing Program's mission is to develop the state's craft industry, support and empower Kentucky artisans and craftspeople, create an economically viable environment for craft entrepreneurs, preserve the state's craft traditions, stimulate and support product development, and generate public awareness, public support and public/private partnerships.

The Program provides assistance to Kentucky residents, individuals, or groups wanting to develop as craft professionals through economic opportunities and training, to other outside entities (e.g., craft retailers, craft and art organizations, community and government agencies), and the general public. The craft industry in Kentucky contributes 252 million dollars in annual sales and Kentucky is recognized as a model state for its craft programs and its role in the $14 billion national craft industry.