Arts Council
Applicant’s Artwork for Kentucky Arts Council Fellowship Awards Open for Public Screening

FRANKFORT, Ky. – This year, 150 visual and media artists have applied for the coveted Kentucky Arts Council’s Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship Awards of $7,500, which also brings added recognition and promotional opportunities to Kentucky artists. Only about 20 will receive the highly competitive award.  Before the panel reviews the work, the public will have the opportunity to view slides of each of the 143 visual arts applicants beginning at 2:00 p.m., November 28, 2005 at the Lexington Public Library, 140 East Main Street, Lexington, Ky.  After the screening, a brief reception will be held as an opportunity to meet the Kentucky artist applicants.

The purpose of the Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship Program is to support Kentucky artists engaged in creating artwork of high quality and to recognize creative excellence in practicing, professional Kentucky artists.  Applications are accepted annually, on a rotating basis by discipline. The Fellowship Awards are named after Kentucky journalist and past Arts Council Board chair Al Smith.

The Fellowship program utilizes a "blind jurying" process by which the selection panel is not provided with applicants' names; the panel reviews the work samples and applications according to application numbers only. Criteria for the awards include artistic excellence, professional achievement and the potential of the fellowship to enhance the artist's development and encourage the continuation of the artist's work.

For more information about the public screening, reception or the Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship Program, contact Artist and Community Arts Program Director Amber Luallen at 888-833-2787 or amber.luallen@ky.gov. 

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The Kentucky Arts Council is a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet that 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. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.