Arts Council
Arts Council Supports Kentucky's Traditional Arts through Folk Arts Project Grants

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky Arts Council has awarded 10 grants totaling $32,000 to help local communities and organizations identify, document, conserve and present folk and traditional culture.

"Kentucky has many unique artistic traditions shared among ethnic groups, occupational groups, recreational groups and families," says Lori Meadows, executive director of the Kentucky Arts Council. "The folk arts project grants help local communities honor and strengthen those art forms."

Berea College in Madison County was awarded $3,500 to support the inclusion of African-American and women artists in the annual Celebration of Traditional Music.

The Kentucky Folk Art Center in Rowan County was awarded $3,500 to support an exhibition that explores the wood carving of a folk group from the Red River Gorge area, including Edgar Tolson and those influenced by him.

The International Bluegrass Museum in Daviess County was awarded $3,500 to support faculty fees for the Monroe-Style Mandolin Camp carrying on techniques developed by Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music.

The African American Heritage Center in Laurel County was awarded $3,500 to support youth and adult programs in collecting oral histories and photographs and writing a book documenting local African-American heritage.

The Powell County Tourism Commission was awarded $3,500 to support the Lily May Ledford Music and Heritage Festival, which celebrates traditional music and mountain and Cherokee lore. The festival also features an oral history collection station.

The Cowan Community Action Group in Letcher County was awarded $3,500 for the expansion of its afterschool traditional music program at the Cowan Community Center and Cowan Elementary School.

The East Bernstadt School in Laurel County was awarded $3,000 to support the identification, documentation and presentation of student families' traditional folk arts including gourd art, carving, quilting, basket making, storytelling, music and dance.

The Clay County Middle School Youth Services Center was awarded $2,500 to support a project focused on traditional Appalachian and Cherokee dance, music and craft skills at the Southeast Kentucky Folklife Festival.

The Carcassonne Community Center in Letcher County was awarded $2,000 to support musician fees for monthly community square dances.

The Whitley County Cooperative Extension Service was awarded $3,500 to support the Old-time Music and Dance Revival during the summer at the Whitley County Farmers' Market.

For more information about the Folk Arts Project grant program and other Kentucky Folklife programs, contact Mark Brown at (502) 564-5135 ext. 4491 or mark.brown@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.

The Kentucky Folklife Program is an interagency program of the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Arts Council, which identifies, documents and conserves the state's diverse cultural traditions.

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