Arts Council
Slideshow viewing of art work open to the public

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Applicants for the Kentucky Arts Council’s Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship Awards will have images of their work shown on the big screen on May 24, 2011, from 4 – 6 p.m. at the Ursuline Arts Center, 3114 Lexington Road, Louisville, Ky.

The Kentucky Arts Council encourages arts consultants, artist representatives, gallery owners, curators and art collectors to attend this public viewing, which precedes the panel review for selection of the Al Smith Fellowship Award recipients in visual arts and media arts. (Work samples of media artists will not be shown at the public screening.) Artists and art students who may be interested in applying for the award in the future can also benefit from seeing the current survey of Kentucky artwork at this screening.

“Although only a few of these professional artists will receive awards, I think it’s good for the public to be able to see the breadth of talent Kentucky has in all areas of the state. We have applicants from 26 counties,” said Lori Meadows, executive director of the Kentucky Arts Council. “I hope that representatives of galleries and museums will consider this an opportunity to discover artists they may not be familiar with.”

This year 86 visual artists applied for the highly competitive Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship Awards. The program is open to professional artists, including emerging artists working in the visual and media arts: craft; drawing; experimental and installation work; mixed media; new genre; painting; photography; printmaking; sculpture; and film, video and audio work.

The purpose of the fellowships is to support Kentucky artists engaged in creating artwork of high quality and to recognize creative excellence in practicing, professional Kentucky artists. The fellowship awards are named after retired Kentucky journalist and past arts council board chair, Al Smith.

The fellowship program uses a "blind jury" process in which the panel reviews the work samples and applications according to application numbers only. Criteria for the monetary awards include artistic excellence and professional achievement.

For more information about the Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship program or other Kentucky Arts Council opportunities for artists, contact Tamara Coffey at 502-564-3757 or tamara.coffey@ky.gov.

The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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