Arts Council
LaVon Williams creates sculptures for Governor’s Awards in the Arts recipients

FRANKFORT, KY — Former U.K. basketball star and now full-time artist, LaVon Van Williams Jr., has been commissioned by the Kentucky Arts Council to create polychromed, low-relief woodcarvings as awards to be presented by Gov. Steve Beshear to the recipients of the 2010 Governor’s Awards in the Arts. The ceremony followed by a reception will be at 10 a.m. EDT, Oct. 28, 2010, Capitol Rotunda, Frankfort and is free and open to the public.

Williams creates African-inspired sculptures that reinterpret the Gullah/Geechee traditions and artistic influences that have been passed on to him through five generations of his family.

In 2009 the Kentucky Folk Art Center assembled a 30-year retrospective exhibit of the Lexington artist’s work entitled LaVon Williams: Rhythm in Relief. It has since toured extensively through Ohio and Kentucky and will be on display for the reopening celebration of the historic Lyric Theatre in Lexington, Oct. 28-31, 2010.

The Governor’s Awards in the Arts are presented in nine different categories. The Milner Award was the first established and remains the most prestigious. The 2010 Governor’s Award in the Arts recipients are:

For more information about the Governor’s Awards in the Arts and the recipients of the 2010 awards, go to http://artscouncil.ky.gov/10govaward/index.htm.

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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