Arts Council
Kentucky Crafted: The Market comes to Lexington

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Kentucky Crafted: The Market will return to Lexington in 2012. The award-winning arts marketplace, which had its debut in 1981 at the Kentucky Horse Park, will come home after a long run in Louisville at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

The annual wholesale/retail show of art, craft, books, music and artisan food products will be held March 1 – 4, 2012, at the Lexington Convention Center, 430 W. Vine St., Lexington, Ky.

“We’re very excited about the move to Lexington. The high energy of Lexington is very much in tune with what our artists have to offer,” said Lori Meadows executive director of the Kentucky Arts Council, the producers of the state-sponsored show.

At this year’s show, cutting edge meets tradition. Visitors to Kentucky Crafted: The Market will find paintings from abstracts to pastoral landscapes, craft from contemporary glass and over-the-top ceramics to brooms and baskets, books from modern short stories to poetry printed on a letterpress, and delicacies from tequila-and-lime-flavored marshmallows to creamed pull candy. The days will also be filled with live performances of blues, bluegrass, newgrass, jazz and everything in between.

The first two days of The Market are the wholesale trade show days, which are open exclusively to qualified business owners who sell products in retail venues. The wholesale days act as an economic generator for Kentucky, annually attracting 500 – 600 buyers from 15 – 20 states.

Kentucky Crafted: The Market opens to the public on March 3 and 4, giving customers an opportunity to purchase new work before it hits the store shelves or is installed on gallery walls.

Kentucky Crafted: The Market is produced by the Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency 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.

KENTUCKY CRAFTED: THE MARKET
Lexington Convention Center
430 W. Vine St.
Lexington, Kentucky

Open to the Trade:
Thursday, March 1, 2012 1 p.m. – 8 p.m. EDT
Friday, March 2, 2012 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. EDT
Buyers must show two forms of business identification.

Open to the Public:
Saturday, March 3, 2012 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. EDT
Sunday, March 4, 2012 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. EDT
Admission: $10 Adults, Children 15 and under free.

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