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Arts Council
Kentucky Arts Council Hosts Select Buyers at Kentucky Crafted: The Market
FRANKFORT, Ky. — For the 13th consecutive year, a selection of proven retailers from beyond Kentucky, will attend Kentucky Crafted: The Market 2008 courtesy of the “Fly the Buyer” program.
“This program started as a way for to introduce outstanding retailers to the wide selection of folk, traditional and contemporary craft available at Kentucky Crafted: The Market,” said Arts Council Executive Director, Lori Meadows. “The sales to ‘Fly the Buyer’ program guests dramatically exceeds the average sales to other attending retail buyers. These few buyers typically boost the overall wholesale sales at the Market, making it a good return on our investment.”
Five retailers have been invited to receive free travel and accommodations to the 2008 Market in Louisville. They represent art and craft retailers, artist cooperatives, museums, and galleries that have never been to Kentucky Crafted: The Market.
Adrienne Arnst represents Boulder Arts & Crafts Co-op (Boulder, Colorado), an artist cooperative since 1971 that is owned and operated by 42 artists. It has been recognized in Niche Magazine as one of the Top 25 Retailers of American Arts and Crafts for 2007.
David Tweet is the Museum Shop Manager at the Columbus Museum of Art (Columbus, Ohio), recognized nationally for extraordinary regional collections and its promotion of local artists.
Diane Christian Budd is the owner of Indigenous, a Handcrafted Gallery (Cincinnati, Ohio), which is recognized in Niche Magazine as one of the Top 25 Retailers of American Arts and Crafts for 2007. This gallery is owned and staffed by the same experienced sales force behind the former A Show of Hands by Ohio Designer Craftsman.
Mikal Brutzman is the Store/Gallery Manager and Coordinator of the Annual Craft Fair at Peters Valley Craft Center (Layton, New Jersey), a non-profit educational facility founded in 1970 that cultivates public interest in contemporary crafts by providing workshops, a store, and gallery featuring fine crafts from throughout the United States.
Barbara McCormick is the owner of Poppy (Columbia, Missouri), recognized in Niche Magazine as one of the Top 25 Retailers of American Arts and Crafts for 2007. It began as a small specialty art gallery that has grown over the past 25 years to represent over 200 artisans.
Kentucky Crafted:The Market is produced by the Kentucky Arts Council, a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet that creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Funding for the Kentucky Arts Council is provided by the Kentucky State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
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The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, invests in programs that develop vibrant communities, provide lifelong education in the arts and support arts participation. Every $1 invested in operating support grants by the Kentucky Arts Council leverages $24 in earned income and matching funds from individuals, philanthropic sources and other levels of government.
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