Arts Council
Kentucky Arts Council Awards Arts District Planning Grants to Berea, Horse Cave and Maysville

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky Arts Council will provide arts and cultural district planning grants of $35,938 each, to three smaller cities in Kentucky, through funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.  Selection was based upon established arts activity, an expressed interest in using the arts as tool to develop cultural tourism and the potential for an arts and cultural district to contribute to the social, economic and educational growth of the community.

The Kentucky Arts Council will work in an advisory capacity to provide research, planning, technical assistance and resource access in the development of a "blueprint" for a cultural district unique to that community.  The communities will also work in tandem with each other to share progress and avoid pitfalls in the planning processes.

"We are very excited to be able to award these planning grants," says Lori Meadows, executive director of the Kentucky Arts Council. "Kentucky has seen great success with arts district programs, such as the Paducah Artist Relocation Program and Covington's new Arts District. Arts and cultural districts increase participation in the arts, broaden the understanding of how the arts benefit a community and form partnerships among many sectors of the community through an integration of the arts."

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 General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

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