Arts Council
Kentucky Arts Council Supports Local Arts Projects through Arts Build Communities Grants
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Arts Build Communities grants of up to $5,000 each have been awarded in 12 counties to encourage new opportunities and partnerships between artists and community organizations for cultural, social and educational development and economic growth through the arts.
"We are pleased to be able to continue this matching grant program during tight budgetary times," says Lori Meadows, executive director of the Kentucky Arts Council. "This investment in communities reflects a wide range of approaches to expanding arts opportunities that have tangible benefits for Kentuckians."
For more information about the Arts Build Communities grant program, contact Program Branch Manager Chris Cathers at (502) 564-3757 ext. 488 or christopher.cathers@ky.gov. The next application deadline is February 1, 2009. Current guidelines are available at http://artscouncil.ky.gov/guide/prog7/abc_gdl.html.
The Kentucky Arts Council is a state agency in the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet that creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Grant recipients and project descriptions are listed below by county.
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Ballard County
Let's Beautify LaCenter $5,000
Contact: Judith Webb
270-665-5630
letsbeautifylacenter@brtc.net
One of the major projects of Let's Beautify LaCenter has been to establish a mini-park called Celebration Park, to revitalize the downtown area. The central focus of the park will be a mural painted on an 18' x 70' wall by artist Patricia Thrush of Benton. The mural will depict the history of LaCenter from photographs gathered from community members. The Ballard County Art Guild will aid the artist and additional community involvement will be provided by the local Boy Scouts troop.
Calloway County
Murray Band Boosters $5,000
Contact: Mary Anne Medlock
(270) 519-7662
mamedlock@gmail.com
Murray Band Boosters will present Jazz in the Park, a music clinic and festival featuring jazz school ensembles recruited from Ballard, Calloway, Carlisle, Caldwell, Christian, Fulton, Graves, Hopkins, Hickman, Livingston, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, Muhlenberg, Todd, Trigg and Webster Counties. It will feature an instructional clinic for the participating student ensembles led by Miles Osland, and will conclude with a free concert with Miles Osland and the DiMartino Osland Jazz Orchestra as the headliners, at Murray's Central Park amphitheatre. Community partners are the Murray Convention and Visitors Bureau, Murray-Calloway County Park Department, Murray-Calloway County Chamber of Commerce and WKMS-FM.
Daviess County
International Bluegrass Music Museum $5,000
Contact: Gabrielle Gray
(270) 926-7891
gabrielle@bluegrassmuseum.org
In preparation for a celebration of the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, Bluegrass in the Schools Director Randy Lanham will help students create songs about Lincoln's boyhood — songs written by children the same age as Abe when he lived in Kentucky. The collaboration between the International Bluegrass Music Museum, Randy Lanham, songwriter and historian Rick Miller, student songwriters, high school and adult musicians, high school drama clubs, community actors, music teachers, visual artists, cloggers and local historians will culminate in the performance of the new musical, "Lincoln in the Land of the Bluegrass," at Owensboro's RiverPark Center on February 12, 2009 (the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth).
Elliott County
Elliott County Extension Service District Board $5,000
Contact: Gwenda Adkins
(606) 738-6400
gadkins@uky.edu
The Elliott County Extension Service will present a year-long series of workshops on writing personal narratives and creative non-fiction and converting them into stories for story telling. Participants will also develop storytelling skills and have opportunities to use their new skill for entertainment and education of tourists who visit the area to experience Appalachian culture. Author, Garry Barker, will lead the writing workshops and storyteller, Christie G. Cook, will facilitate the storytelling components of the project. The Laurel Gorge Cultural-Heritage Center, a partner in the project, will serve as the facility for the workshops and gatherings.
Fayette County
Lexington Fayette Urban County Government $5,000
Division of Parks and Recreation
Contact: Jackie French
(859) 288-2955
jackief@lfucg.com
The Division of Parks and Recreation will commission Gordon Gildersleeve to work with the community to develop a design and then create a sculpture that will also function as a park bench in Woodland Park. The project will also include a mini-documentary of the process and involvement with the Aylesford Neighborhood Association. This collaboration will be a first step toward building a public art collection for Lexington.
Floyd County
Jenny Wiley Theatre $5,000
Contact: Marty Childers
(606) 888-9274
marty@jwtheatre.com
This grant will support SMArT-Y Day Camp, a summer program that enables youth from the Big Sandy region to experience science, music, art and theatre with professional instructors through active and innovative methods not usually available in school. Jenny Wiley Theatre, as the lead agency on this project grant, will work in partnership with Floyd County 4-H Youth Development program, Magoffin County and Floyd County Family Resources and Youth Services Centers, East Kentucky Science Center, Mountain Arts Center and the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative.
Franklin County (Statewide Impact)
Kentucky Storytelling Association $4,000
Contact: Mary Hamilton
(502) 223-4523
info@kystory,org
The Kentucky Storytelling Association will collaborate with the Knowledge Center on Deafness and artist Jennifer Rose to present the 5th Kentucky Storytelling Conference to be held this year in Shepherdsville. Merging the hearing and deaf storytelling communities will provide equitable access to the deaf and hard of hearing community, while incorporating educational training regarding the use of theatrical interpreters for the entire story telling community. Jennifer Rose, who has conducted artist residencies at the Kentucky school for the Deaf, will lead workshops on oral history collection, performance and the use of Appalachian ballads as a story source.
Harlan County
Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College $5,000
Contact: Robert Gipe
(606) 589-3130
robert.gipe@kctcs.edu
Elli Scott Pace and Maxine Clay, Harlan County mosaicists, will work collaboratively with county residents, particularly those in Lynch, Ky., to create a series of 12 three foot by three foot tile mosaic panels as part of a public art installation in Lynch. The panels will be based on photographs collected by the community and will celebrate cultural diversity and chronicle migrations in and out of the county. The grant supports the community-based creation of the panels and the community process in determining where to install the panels. The Greater Mount Sinai Baptist Church in Lynch is also a partnering organization with the Appalachian Program of the Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College for this project.
Jefferson County
Gilda's Club of Louisville $5,000
Contact: Tonya Cook
(502) 583-0075
tonya@gildasclublouisville.org
Gilda's Club of Louisville will partner with local artist and community activist Ashley Cecil to offer people in the community touched by cancer, the opportunity to discover or improve their artistic talent while collaboratively creating a large public painting. The project title reflects the theme of the painting; "Living with Cancer through My Eyes." After the completion of the artwork, it will travel to five Louisville venues, with project participants sharing their experiences. The project will serve as a community outreach tool to raise awareness about living with cancer as well as the support available at Gilda's Club.
Kenton County
Center for Great Neighborhoods $5,000
Contact: Jean St. John
(859) 491-2220 ext. 17
jean@greatneighborhoods.org
Henry Farny (1847-1916), an artist with an international reputation, settled on Banklick Street in Covington, where he lived and painted images of the American West that continue to be prized by museums and collectors today. His presence in Covington has been little noted. The Henry Farny Art Park project will honor Farny and promote neighborhood revitalization through the creation of public art (sculpture and mural) and the development of green space. Partners in the project include two Westside Covington artists, David Rice and Paul Tribble, Westside Action Coalition, Old Seminary Square Neighborhood Association, youth in Born Leaders of Covington Kentucky (BLOCK) and Northern Kentucky University's Community Leadership class.
Laurel County
Union College at Bennett Center $5,000
Contact: Mona Powell
(606) 546-1683
mpowell@unionky.edu
Union College at Bennett Center will partner with the Laurel County Drug Court to continue the Arts Heal program in collaboration with visual artist, Alfredo Escobar, singer/songwriter, Mitch Barrett, storyteller, Octavia Sexton, visual artist Vickie Nicholson, and weaver Dianne Simpson. The program is an option for convicted non-violent drug offenders and an alternative to jail time. Art Heals offers participants the opportunity to learn from past experiences and move forward into a new life, using the arts as a healthy coping mechanism. The artists and program leaders use arts to encourage socially acceptable methods of expression and communication. During the 18-month program, participants must stay drug-free, find employment and complete an educational component.
Madison County
Richmond Area Arts Council $5,000
Contact: Marie Fore
(606) 624-4242 ext. 222
mfore@artsinrichmond.org
The Richmond Area Arts Council will work with photographer, Tim Webb, to create new work featuring citizens of Madison County, to be exhibited in the expanded facility which will include gallery space and an arts education building, and then travel to throughout the community. The work will also be collected as a digital collage to be distributed by the local public access channel. Additionally, photojournalism classes will be offered to residents, with the participants work offered on an online gallery. The project is focused on demonstrating how the arts can be a reflection of the community.
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