FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Actors Theatre of Louisville will host the exhibition Uncommon Wealth, a retrospective of past visual arts recipients of the Kentucky Arts Council’s Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship award, including artists who have just received the commonwealth’s prestigious award. The exhibit features sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, fiber art, ceramics, glass, mixed-media and experimental works by Kentucky’s leading contemporary artists. The opening at Actors is Friday evening, November 2, 2007, during Louisville’s gallery hop, 316 W. Main Street, Louisville, Ky.
Uncommon Wealth will be on display in Louisville from October 29, 2007 through February 2, 2008 and will continue on tour in various configurations in Richmond (February 18 – April 18, 2008), Pikeville (February 18 - April 28, 2008), Danville (May 1-30, 2008), Louisa (May 5-June 27, 2008) and Cadiz (May 10 – June 22). Uncommon Wealth originally opened in Lexington in 2006 and was reorganized for the 2007-2008 tour beginning in August at the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art.
The Kentucky Arts Council has been serving artists in Kentucky since 1966, and 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 Kentucky Arts Council visual art fellowship recipients (currently living in Kentucky) were invited to participate in Uncommon Wealth.
"The Arts Council is dedicated to the promotion and support of individual artists," says Lori Meadows, the arts council’s executive director. “Many of these artists have work in private and public collections throughout the nation. They bring a very positive recognition for Kentucky.”
Uncommon Wealth was partially funded with a grant from the Kentucky Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), as part of the American Masterpieces program, which seeks to introduce Americans to the best of their cultural and artistic legacy. The Kentucky Arts Council is a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet that creates opportunities for Kentuckians through the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
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NOTE TO EDITORS: See list below for exhibiting artists by city of residence.
Almo
Sandy Miller Sasso
Bardstown
Jim Cantrell
Berea
Walter Hyleck
Esther E. Randall
David Zurick
Bowling Green
Tom Bartel
Kim Chalmers
Yvonne Petkus
Danville
Judith Pointer Jia
Erlanger
Kevin Muente
Frankfort
Dobree Adams
Highland Heights
Ken Landon Buck
Irvine
Gwen Heffner
Lexington
Philis Alvic
Sean Anderson
Steve Armstrong
Garry Bibbs
Steve Davis-Rosenbaum
Gerald Ferstman
Kurt Gohde
Gary J. Noland, Jr.
Arturo Alonzo Sandoval
Karen Spears
Erika Strecker
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
Scott Massey
Gabrielle Mayer
Mary E. Newton
Thomas Pfannerstill
C.J. Pressma
Letitia Quesenberry
Guinever Smith
Zoe Strecker
Brook Forest White, Jr.
Gayle Williamson
McKee
Linda Fifield
Morehead
David Bartlett
Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido
Gary Mesa-Gaido
Nicholasville
Patrick Adams
Owensboro
Stephen Driver
David Stratton
Paducah
Patt Blue
Warren Farr
Connie Noyes
Randy Simmons
Prospect
J. Barry Motes
Richmond
David Mohallatee
Mary Tortorici
Travis Townsend
Shelbyville
Valerie Sullivan Fuchs
Michael Thomas McCardwell
Union
Nancy Cassell
Michael Maydak
Williamsburg
Russell Weedman
Winchester
Joseph Molinaro
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The Kentucky Arts Council is a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet that creates opportunities for Kentuckians through the arts. 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.