FRANKFORT, Ky. — Nine Kentucky arts organizations have been awarded nearly $40,000 in funding to support efforts to bring touring artists to their venues, the Kentucky Arts Council announced today.

The grant funding comes from regional arts organization South Arts, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, to offer nonprofit presenting institutions support to present artists from other states. Regional touring support is awarded for theater, music, opera, musical theater and dance projects that contain both a public performance and an educational component.

“Kentucky’s grant recipients bring programs to their regions that local audiences may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience,” said Lori Meadows, arts council executive director. “We congratulate each of our arts presenters and encourage Kentuckians to experience live arts events in these areas.”

Kentucky grant recipients and amounts are:

• Centre College of Kentucky, Danville, $4,125
• Hardin County Schools Performing Arts Center, Elizabethtown, $3,933
• Hazard Independent College Foundation, Hazard, $4,125
• Kentucky Center for the Arts Endowment Fund Inc., Louisville, $6,713
• Lake Cumberland Performing Arts, Somerset, $2,355
• The Carson Center, Paducah, $3,067
• Morehead State University, Morehead, $4,333
• Pennyroyal Arts Council Inc., Hopkinsville, $2,672
• Save the Grand Theatre Inc., Frankfort, $4,275
• Centre College of Kentucky, Aquila Theatre, Danville, $3,863

Presenting organizations from South Arts’ nine-state region competed for a total of $408,208 supporting 106 projects in regional touring funding. The following states are in South Arts’ region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

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.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector.

South Arts, a nonprofit regional arts organization, was founded in 1975 to build on the South’s unique heritage and enhance the public value of the arts. South Arts offers an annual portfolio of activities designed to address the role of the arts in impacting the issues important to the region, and to link the South with the nation and the world through the arts. For more information, visit www.southarts.org.

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