Arts Council
Uncommon Wealth: Legacy of the Kentucky Arts Council Visual Arts Fellowships

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Lexington Art League (LAL) and the Kentucky Arts Council (KAC) will debut a new collaborative exhibit, Uncommon Wealth:  Legacy of the Kentucky Arts Council Visual Art Fellowships, with an Opening Preview on Friday, 21 July 2006, 6 – 9 pm, at LAL's Loudoun House Gallery, 209 Castlewood Drive, Lexington, Ky.  Uncommon Wealth will be on display 22 July – 27 August 2006, Tuesday – Sunday, 1 –4 pm.  Opening Preview and exhibit are free and open to the public.

The Kentucky Arts Council has been serving artists in Kentucky since 1966, and has been awarding fellowships to artists since 1984. Visual art fellowships are selected on a bi-yearly basis and are based on the artistic merit of the artist’s work.  Past and present KAC visual art fellows (currently living in Kentucky) were invited to participate in Uncommon Wealth.  The exhibit is the largest gathering of artwork to date by KAC visual art fellowship recipients, and will present artwork in a variety of two- and three-dimensional media.  "The Arts Council is dedicated to the recognition and support of individual artists," says Lori Meadows, KAC's Executive Director.  "2006 marks the 40th anniversary of the Kentucky Arts Council and we are pleased to work in partnership with the Lexington Art League to showcase many of the exceptional artists who have received KAC fellowships over the years." 

Uncommon Wealth was partially funded with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), as part of the American Masterpieces program.  According to NEA, the American Masterpieces program provides grant monies to states for the development of programs displaying acknowledged masterpieces selected from a wide variety of art forms.

In displaying artwork by recipients of the Kentucky Arts Council's visual art fellowships, LAL and KAC present, "an important survey of visual artwork," says Kate Sprengnether, LAL's Visual Art Specialist.  "These are exemplary Kentucky artists, and this work shows the diversity and range of work that can be found in our state."

As part of Uncommon Wealth's opening weekend, the Lexington Art League will host an Artists in Kentucky Symposium on Saturday, 22 July, 2006, 10 am – 2 pm, at Loudoun House.  The symposium will include a panel discussion, "Maintaining an Artist's Life," with well-known members of Kentucky's visual art community -- Philis Alvic (fiber artist, writer and educator), Marjorie Guyon (painter), and Scott Massey (Assistant Professor of Sculpture - University of Louisville) – and a lecture by Jay Jordan, curator of Louisville's New Center for Contemporary Art, on Kentucky artists' relationship to broader trends in contemporary art.  The symposium is open to the public.  Cost is $10 and includes lunch; reservations requested by 19 July 2006.  Call LAL, 859.254.7024, to make reservation.

NOTE TO EDITORS: See list below for exhibiting artists by city.

Almo

Sandy Miller Sasso

Bardstown

Jim Cantrell

Bellevue

Patrick Dougherty

Berea

Walter Hyleck

Esther E. Randall

David Zurick

Jennifer Heller Zurick

Bowling Green

Tom Bartel

Kim Chalmers

Yvonne Petkus

Covington

Robert Fry

Cynthiana

Ben Mansur

Danville

Judith Pointer Jia

Erlanger

Kevin Muente

Harrodsburg

Michael Frasca

Highland Heights

Ken Landon Buck

Irvine

Gwen Heffner

Lexington

Philis Alvic

Don Ament

Steve Armstrong

Louis Zoellar Bickett

Bruce Burris

Steve Davis-Rosenbaum

Gerald Ferstman

Kurt Gohde

Marjorie Guyon

Tracy Hawkins

Blythe Jamieson

Jeffrey Kempster

Robert Morgan

Gary J. Noland, Jr.

Arturo Alonzo Sandoval

Karen Spears

Lawrence Tarpey

Robert Tharsing

Louisville

Peter Bodnar III

Tom Butsch

Ying Kit Chan

Debra Clem

Brad Devlin

Gaela A. Erwin

Lida G. Gordon

Shayne Hull

Russell Hulsey

Sharon Howerton Leightty

Scott Massey

Suzanne L. Mitchell

Mary E. Newton

Thomas Pfannerstill

C.J. Pressma

Letitia Quesenberry

Cathy M. Shepherd

Guinever Smith

Brook Forest White, Jr.

Gayle Williamson

McKee

Linda Fifield

Morehead

David Bartlett

Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido

Gary Mesa-Gaido

Murray

Jim Bryant

Nicholasville

Patrick Adams

Owensboro

Stephen Driver

David Stratton

Paducah

Warren Farr

Prospect

J. Barry Motes

Richmond

David Mohallatee

Mary Tortorici

Travis Townsend

Shelbyville

Valerie Sullivan Fuchs

Michael Thomas McCardwell

Union

Nancy Cassell

Wilmore

Michael Goodlett

Winchester

Joseph Molinaro

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The Kentucky Arts Council joins the National Endowment for the Arts in celebrating 40 years of public support for the arts.  The Kentucky Arts Council is a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet that invests in programs that develop vibrant communities, provide lifelong education in the arts and support arts participation.  Every $1 in grant funds awarded by the Kentucky Arts Council helps grantees secure $15 in earned income and matching funds from individuals, philanthropic sources and other levels of government. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.