Copious Notes

The Governor’s office and the Kentucky Arts Council have put out a call for Kentucky artists to submit works for the annual Derby exhibit in the Capitol Rotunda.

The theme for this year’s exhibit, April 25 to May 16, is “Kentucky landscapes.” All Kentucky artists are eligible. The works must be two dimensional, completed within the past four years and not exceed 36 inches in width or 25 pounds. Artists selected are responsible for transporting their work to the Kentucky Arts Council offices in Frankfort and they have the choice as to whether they want to offer works for sale. There is no commission taken on sales.

The application deadline is March 29. Click here for the digital application form. Artists accepted into the show will be notified April 5.

For more information, contact Heidi Caudill at Heidi.Caudill@ky.gov .

The Kentucky Arts Council sent out a press release this afternoon seeking information about artists who may need assistance following the storms that struck Kentucky on March 2. Normally this blog does not run press releases verbatim. But this is an exhaustive accounting of potential resources and a guide to applying for relief, so it is being shared in its entirety. To contact the Kentucky Arts Council, call (502) 564-8110. The release reads:

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is trying to determine how many artists and arts organizations have been affected by the severe weather that struck the South and the Midwest last week. If you are a Kentucky artist or arts organization who suffered damage to your home, your studio or gallery, your public facility or your equipment—or if you experienced any other sort of loss or trauma due to the severe storms and tornadoes, please reply to this e-mail (KYARTS@ky.gov) with a very brief accounting of the challenges you are facing. We’d like your name and simple contact information so we can pass it along to the NEA. If you were not directly affected by the storms but you know artists who were, please take a moment to give us their information. We may also provide this information to local groups interested in organizing fund raisers for artists.

 On March 6 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal disaster aid was available for individuals in Johnson, Kenton, Laurel , Lawrence, Menifee, Morgan and Pendleton Counties. Other counties may be added to the list when local assessments are completed. Helpful tips for registering with FEMA are listed at the end of this message.

 There are several national organizations that lend assistance specifically to artists who have suffered loss from a catastrophic event. After you have addressed your immediate needs, you may want to investigate the following organizations to determine if you are eligible for additional assistance.

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Shops on Main Street in Berea boast numerous arts and crafts offerings that help enhance the city's status as a cultural district. © Herald-Leader staff photo by Mark Cornelison.

The Central Kentucky cities of Danville and Berea were among the first five communities to receive Kentucky Cultural District Certification. The honor, administered by the Kentucky Arts Council and presented by First Lady Jane Beshear and Madeline Abramson, wife of Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson, is part of an effort to connect cultural assets to economic development.

The Great American Brass Band Festival is one of Danville's annual cultural events. © Herald-Leader photo by Chet White.

The other communities to receive the designation were Covington, Paducah and Horse Cave, all of which are well known for their cultural offerings.

According to a news release from the Kentucky Arts Council, “A cultural district is a well-recognized, labeled, mixed-use area of a community featuring a high concentration of cultural amenities that attract local residents and visitors alike. Cultural districts can be found in any type of community, from small and rural to large and urban. Kentucky’s program is designed to showcase each community’s unique character and assets.”

There were 26 applicants for the first round of designations. The honorees were selected by an independent panel, and the Arts Council says it will continue to work with prospective communities that hope to receive the designation.

Buyer Nancy Markoe, right next to table, places order at Larry Hackley's, left, Bluegrassroots booth, at the Kentucky Crafted: The Market 2002 held at the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center in Louisville. The market returns to Lexington, March 1-4, 2012. © Herald-Leader file photo.

Advance tickets are on sale for Kentucky Crafted: The Market, which returns to Lexington at the Lexington Center on March 1 to 4.

The annual art fair, presented by the Kentucky Arts Council, started at the Kentucky Horse Park in 1981. But since 1988, it has been in Louisville. In addition to items for sale from more than 200 vendors, the event boasts entertainment and food. Kentucky Crafted is split into two parts: On March 1 and 2, it will be open only to business owners who will sell products in retail outlets. On March 3 and 4, it will be open to the public.

The Courier-Journal reported that Kentucky Crafted attracts more than 600 wholesale buyers and 8,000 people on public days. Tickets are $8 online and $10 at the door for one day, $12 online and $15 at the door for two days. Children 15 and younger get in free. Kentucky Crafted is also seeking volunteers to work March 3 and 4. Learn more at the event website.

Centre College music professor and trumpeter extraordinaire Vince DiMartino applauds fellow Governor's Award recipient Robert Brock, a University of Kentucky graduate who is now director of Kentucky Repertory Theatre in Horse Cave, at the 2008 ceremony. Photo by David Perry | Herald-Leader.

The Kentucky Arts Council is accepting nominations for the 2010 Governor’s Awards in the Arts through March 1. The awards recognize extraordinary achievements in the arts or outstanding contributions to the arts. The categories are:

■ Milner Award, for outstanding philanthropic, artistic, or other contributions to the arts and their role in the economy, community and culture of Kentucky

■ National Award, for a Kentuckian who has received national acclaim in the arts

■ Artist, for lifetime achievement by an individual artist

■ Business, for a businesses that shows interest in and support of the arts

■ Community arts, to an organization or individual who has made a positive impact on a community through the arts

■ Education, for an individual, school, school district or organization’s contributions to arts education

■ Folk heritage, to an individual or group that has made exceptional efforts to perpetuate Kentucky’s artistic traditions

■ Government, to a government entity or leader who has made significant contributions to the arts

■ Media, for a Kentucky journalist or a media organization in Kentucky that has made outstanding efforts to bring the arts to the public’s attention

Recent winners from the Lexington area have included trumpeter Vince DiMartino, visual artist Arturo Alonzo Sandoval, actor George Clooney and arts-supporting business The Liquor Barn.

Nominations are due by March 1. For information and nomination forms call Dan Strauss at (502) 564-3757, ext. 474 or visit the Arts Council’s website. Gov. Steve Beshear will present the 2010 Awards at a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda in October.

Due to the continued winter weather in Central Kentucky, Arts Kentucky sent out an e-mail last night cancelling its Arts Advocay Day activities today in Frankfort. Note: This only impacts Arts Kentucky activities. The Kentucky Arts Council’s events, including recognition of the winners of the 2009 Governor’s Awards in the Arts, are still taking place.

The Arts Kentucky events were to involve a rally, workshops and meetings with legislators, which is considered particularly important as government arts funding is being clipped at the state and national levels. Instead of a live event, Arts Kentucky is encouraging people to tele-participate by emailing legislators to encourage support of arts funding and other support.

“The most important part of Arts Advocacy Day is that legislators hear directly from you, their constituents, about what’s important to you,” the e-mail say. “If you will email or call them with the message below, they will understand that the arts are not dispensable in hard times.”

Patricia Clark, director of the Kentuckly Classical Theatre Conservatory, talks to students in a musical theater workshop Jan. 3, 2010 in the Schmidt Vocal Arts Center on the University of Kentucky Campus. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

Instructors and directors would come up to her and talk about students that had gone through the Kentucky Classical Theatre Conservatory and its former incarnation as the Lexington Shakespeare Institute, which Clark has overseen. They would comment on how well versed the students were on things like Ann Bogart’s Viewpoints method and skills like stage combat.

“They’d say, ‘Whatever you’re doing, you’re doing it right,’” Clark said.

But, for the most part, the conservatory was doing it only in the summertime, in conjunction with Summerfest, the three-week outdoor theater festival in the Arboretum on Alumni Drive.

That’s been changing the past few months, though. The conservatory and the organizations’ stage productions aim to become a year-round enterprise.

“We have wonderful talent here that needs as many opportunities to develop as possible,” Clark said. “To do that, we need something solid and consistent we can build on.”

KCTC and SummerFest president Joe Cannon Artz said, “The goal is to be a full-time, year-round producing organization by 2011. This will include a full calendar year of performing arts training opportunities for high school, college students and adults, plus SummerFest and two other indoor productions, one prior to SummerFest and one after.”

Artz said that the organization has been working with a consultant from the Kentucky Arts Council for a year to plan for the next steps, and the full plan will be revealed after this year’s SummerFest, July 7 to 25.

That planning will include a new name for the overall organization, including the educational outlets, though SummerFest will remain the name of the July festival.

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LexArts has agreed to give Actors Guild of Lexington a $7,500 matching grant to hire an organizational consultant to help the theater navigate out of its financial troubles.

In June, the LexArts allocations committee decided not to give Actors Guild a general operating support grant from its 2009 Campaign for the Arts. The theater, which produces shows in the Downtown Arts Center on Main Street, has traditionally received funds from the campaign, which in part gives operational support to groups such as the Lexington Philharmonic and the Lexington Art League. Actors Guild’s allocation request for this year was $70,900, in line with previous requests.

In denying the request, and a subsequent appeal in July, LexArts said it was concerned about the theater’s financial management and troubles that dated back to 2005.

The matching grant came after a meeting between LexArts and Actors Guild leaders.

Granting the consultant funds, LexArts President and CEO Jim CLark said in a news release that, ”AGL now has an arts management professional leading the staff and board members focusing on financial progress as much as on AGL’s artistic and outreach mission.  Working with an independent consultant, AGL can confront a difficult challenge to emerge as a stronger organization with a larger community presence.”

AGL’s managing director Kimberly Shaw said, “In the last few years, AGL has expanded its public service programs and earned regional and national attention for its rising artistic excellence.  We are now on the road to having business practices of the same high professional quality.  AGL’s artists, audience members, donors, trustees and staff will all greatly appreciate that LexArts intends to join us on this journey.”

In the past, LexArts has helped groups such as the Lexington Children’s Theatre and Lexington Art League hire consultants when it had concerns about their business practices. Both groups still receive allocations from the campaign.

Earlier this month, Actors Guild did receive a $15,839 Arts Partnership Grant from the Kentucky Arts Council. Council executive director Lori Meadows said the state organization’s grants are independent of local groups — it also gave LexArts a $32,598 grant — with different criteria. She said the KAC review panel did not have the same concerns LexArts had about Actors Guild.

At its June meeting, the board of the Kentucky Arts Council drafted a resolution regarding artist pay.

“The Kentucky Arts Council believes that artists should be fairly compensated for their work,” the resolution stated. “Requests for donations for artwork, performances or products, and other business practices not in keeping with the Kentucky Arts Council values statement, are not supported by this state agency.”

Arts Council spokesman Ed Lawrence said the resolution was in response to artists persistently being asked to donate work and feeling uncomfortable saying no to such requests, particularly in the case of charitable causes.

The values statement about compensation says, “Gratis creative services and works, demonstrations, or performances should not be solicited as standard practice.”

In a news release, KAC executive director Lori Meadows said, “While this resolution seems to be stating the obvious, it is a constant challenge to educate the public and organizations that seek the services of artists, that workers in the creative industry should be paid as those in any other profession.”

As the Kentucky State Legislature is getting into gear, arts advocates will be descending upon Frankfort Wednesday to try to keep arts funding in the Commonwealth’s budget.

Kentucky's State Capitol Building. Herald-Leader photo by David Perry.

Kentucky arts leaders are emphasizing the importance of advocating for arts funding in light of the current economic crisis and a severely compressed stage budget.

Kentucky artists and arts groups are already taking a beating in the economic crisis with funding cuts and declining ticket sales and donations. Louisville, for example, slashed its arts funding in half for the current fiscal year, and the Kentucky Arts Council has been through several rounds of budget cuts, recently.

A message on the front page of Arts Kentucky’s website reads, “While the governor’s cuts have been even-handed and have not hurt the arts more than other important issues, we need to be evident in our support for continued funding. In addition, arts education issues are likely to need our support to keep arts in schools.”

The Arts Advocacy Day will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the Capitol Rotunda with a rally, followed by meetings with legislators and workshops. Visit Arts Kentucky’s website for more information.