Arts Council
Kentucky Arts Council awards 20 artist residency grants

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Arts Council has awarded $25,380 in Teacher Initiated Program grants for 47 weeks’ worth of short-term artist residencies scheduled to take place in the spring of 2012. These grants give professional artists an opportunity to demonstrate their art forms and provide students and teachers hands-on experiences in the making of art. Artists also collaborate with teachers to design and implement innovative programs that provide the tools to continue incorporating art across the curriculum after the residency is completed.

Residencies vary widely, depending on the planning of the teacher and the artist or artists hired for the residency. This group of residencies includes mural projects, explorations of cultural traditions, visual arts, animation, storytelling and dance.

"The Kentucky Arts Council strongly supports arts in education," says Lori Meadows, executive director of the Kentucky Arts Council. "The Teacher Initiated Program has enhanced the learning experience for students in schools across the Commonwealth for many years. We are fortunate to be able to continue this valuable arts education program."

The grant amounts are based on the length of the residencies, which can be for one to four weeks. The grant awards are $540, $1,080, $1,620 and $2,160, respectively. The schools select artists from the Kentucky Arts Council's Teaching Artists Directory, available at http://bit.ly/teachingartists.

The next application deadline is Jan. 15, 2012, for residencies occurring in the fall of 2012. For more information about the Teacher Initiated Program, contact Rachel Allen at rachel.allen@ky.gov or 502-564-3757, ext. 486.

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.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Grant recipients, teachers and artists are listed below by county.

- ### -