KyArtsCast

It's been my pleasure for the past five years to produce this podcast. It started out as a wild idea, and has evolved into an amazing mode of communication that allows us to more thoroughly tell the Kentucky Arts Council's stories. Today, my time as producer and host comes to an end. I've had a wonderful time on this podcast journey, and now it's time to turn it over to other voices as it continues. There are some people I'd like to thank publicly for their support of this endeavor. When I went to Chris Cathers in 2018 with the idea to start a podcast, it was a half-formed idea. He said yes, though, and backed my efforts to seek out training opportunities. Mark Brown has been a patient teacher and source of advice on audio engineering. I've not always gotten it right, but I've done my best, thanks to Mark's wisdom. If you're a Kentucky Crafted artist, you know Dave Blevins for his work administering that program, and as executive producer/grand poobah/illustrious potentate of The Kentucky Crafted Market, but did you know he's also a composer? He wrote and performed the intro and outro music you hear on each episode. And then there's former coworkers Tammie Williams and Katie Lewis. That's Tammie's voice you hear at the beginning and end of each episode and Katie created the KyArtsCast logo which has served us well the past five years. I still get a kick out of seeing it whenever Apple lets me know a new podcast episode has uploaded (yes, I subscribe to my own podcast). I hate the sound of my own voice, so I'm grateful to the coworkers who have graciously sat in the host's chair for some great episodes. I fear leaving any out, so I'm not listing them here. But they know I appreciate their service, and when you hear them, you should feel free to tell them you appreciate them too. And Sarah Schmitt, most recently my supervisor, has been instrumental in helping come up with a production schedule that helped us get back on regular track coming out of the pandemic. I could go on, but this episode summary might be longer than the actual episode, and I don't want that. Thank you to my coworkers, all the guests over the past five years, and, of course, to you, the listeners. It's been a fun ride. 

Amy Roblero-Perez is ending her one-year term as the first Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate. We chat with her about her reaction to beign named to the position, what she's been doing the past year, and hear readings of her work. We'll also talk with Jordan Campbell, executive director of Gateway Regional Arts Center in Mt. Sterling, which sponsors the Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate program. He'll discuss how it got started and what young Kentucky poets can do to apply for the program in the future. Episode footnotes Learn more about Kentucky Writers' Day Watch the commencement of the National Youth Poet Laureate livestream, which includes the announcement of the next Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate Learn about the Kentucky Youth Poet Laureate program LISTEN TO BONUS AUDIO: Amy asks Jordan why he came back to Kentucky to serve the arts community

For a long time, the world of school band directors was largely dominated by men. This demographic has shifted over the years to include more women and increased diversity. Dr. Sue Creasap, professor emeritus and former associate director of bands at Morehead State University, leads a robust conversation that includes retired Jefferson County Schools band director Nan Moore, University of Louisville music professor and associate band director Dr. Amy Acklin, retired Fayette County Schools band director Lois Wiggins, and Harrison County Middle School band director Julie Lucky. They talk about changes in attitudes over the years, influential women they look up to, and challenges they've faced in their careers. Episode footnotes: Learn more about the careers of these five women featured on this episode Dr. Sue Creasap (host) Nan Moore Dr. Amy Acklin Lois Wiggins Julie Lucky

We are getting closer to The Kentucky Crafted Market, March 9-10 at the Kentucky Horse Park's Alltech Arena. It is. perhaps. the Kentucky Arts Council's most visible event each year. In this episode we chat with four artists in the Kentucky Crafted program who are exhibiting and selling work at The Market: Dodie Wrocklage-Harp, Rob Bridges, Addison Williams and Michelle Hayden. Learn about their work and what they like about exhibiting at The Market. Episode footnotes: Learn more about the 2024 Kentucky Crafted Market View a digital version of the Market program to find out which artists will be there

What should Kentucky's public school students know about the arts by the time they have graduated? Jessica Greene, a performing and visual arts consultant to the Kentucky Department of Education, discusses that topic and talks about how Kentuckians can weigh in on those standards. Cynthia Warner, the Kentucky Arts Council's arts education director, interviews Jessica for this important conversation about the arts in our schools.  Episode footnotes: Kentucky Department of Education Academic Standards Review Process Visual and Performing Arts Standards Resources Kentucky's Visual and Performing Arts Curriculum Email Jessica Greene - jessica.greene@education.ky.gov

Kentucky Arts Council spring intern Ashanti Grace Castleberry and arts council communications director Tom Musgrave learn more about Hip Hop Into Learning (HHN2L), a Louisville-based nonprofit arts education organization that received a $500,000 Accelerator Award from The Lewis Prize for Music. Ashanti chats with The Lewis Prize CEO Dalouge Smith and Tom continues the conversation with HHN2L cofounder Nyree Clayton-Taylor.  Episode footnotes: HHN2L homepage The Lewis Prize for Music 2023 Accelerator Awards cohort

The Kentucky Arts Council's Chris Cathers and Tom Musgrave travel to the Kentucky Artisan Center's Todd Finley and Aly Norton about holiday gift giving, what the Artisan Center has planned for the season, and how you can give the gift of Kentucky-made art. Episode footnotes: Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea Kentucky Crafted Directory List of Kentucky Crafted Retailers

In this seasonal episode, we explore the intersection of the arts and the macabre with a trio of segments featuring storyteller Octavia Sexton, folklorist and podcaster Camille Maria Acosta and theatre professional Bo List.  Episode footnotes: Octavia Sexton's links Performing Artists Directory Teaching Artists Directory Floaties for Krakens Podcast site Leeds Center for the Arts Haunted Theatres  

In this episode of KyArtsCast we introduce the new Kentucky Arts Council arts education director Cynthia Warner, and talk to teaching artist Jane Dewey and high school student Cooper Bartlett, a member of Kentuckians for the Arts' Youth Arts Council. Episode footnotes: Kentucky Youth Arts Council Instagram  Kentuckians for the Arts website Contact Jane Dewey: jane.dewey@danville.kyschools.us

In early 2023, the National Endowment for the Arts announced its first round of funding for the year, which included $350,000 awarded in Kentucky. Among those awards were two for Kentucky literary artists. Poet makalani bandele received a $25,000 Literature Fellowship for creative writing, and Kristen Renee Miller received $10,000 for a Literature Fellowship for translation projects. Listen as Kentucky Arts Council spring intern Sophie DeCorte chats with makalani and Kristen about those fellowships and their plans for the funding.

The holidays are upon us and our hearts and minds turn toward gift giving. We join Todd Finley and Aly Norton on location at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea to talk about giving the gift of Kentucky-made art and craft, recordings of your favorite Kentucky musicians and storytellers, season tickets to Kentucky theatre organizations or musical groups, memberships to Kentucky museums and galleries, and other creative ways to give the gift of Kentucky creativity this holiday season.  Episode footnotes: Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea Kentucky Crafted Directory Kentucky Crafted Retailers Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet holiday page

Asia Institute Crane House in Louisville was one of 17 organizations to be designated a Southern Cultural Treasure by South Arts. In this episode we talk with AICH Executive Director Joel Buno and South Arts Vice President of Programs Dr. Joy Young. We'll learn about what it means to be a Southern Cultural Treasure and how Asia Institute Crane House fits into that tapestry. BONUS AUDIO: Dr. Joy Young discusses other South Arts programs  Episode footnotes: Asia Institute Crane House website  South Arts website  About Southern Cultural Treasures  Contact Dr. Joy Young - joyyoung@southarts.org

In this episode, which is taken from the Kentucky Arts Council's Arts Day(s) in Kentucky presentations in March, Community Scholars and curators Maxine Ray and Wathetta Buford join Kentucky Museum Director Brent Bjorkman to discuss joining forces to rescue treasured art, artifacts and documents of Bowling Green's African American Museum in the aftermath of the December 2021 tornado. Episode footnotes: African-American Museum website Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund resources

We return to presentations from Arts Day(s) in Kentucky for this episode, which focuses on the impact of the devastating tornado that tore through western Kentucky in December 2021. In this presentation we'll hear from Ice House director Nanc Gunn about efforts to re-establish space for the gallery while continuing to serve the artists, arts community and the region in the wake of the disaster. We'll also hear from Lexie Millikan, director of the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah.about the effects on the arts community after the loss of the Ice House. Episode footnotes: Ice House Gallery website Yeiser Art Center website Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund donation site

We're excited to be recording in-person again, and in this episode we go on the road to the University of Kentucky campus to talk with Crystal Gregory, an associate professor in the university's school of art and visual studies. Crystal was recently named the Kentucky State Fellow in the 2022 South Arts Southern Prize Competition. That distinction carries a $5,000 cash award and puts Crystal in the running for the $25,000 or $10,000 Southern Prize. We chat with Crystal about her work, her journey to art, and what she has been doing during the pandemic to energize her creativity. Episode footnotes: Crystal's bio and artist statement The South Arts Southern Prize Photos of Crystal's work she described in her studio – image 1, image 2

This episode is a audio from a presentation during Arts Day(s) in Kentucky. It features three artists whose work is in the Kentucky Arts Council's traveling exhibit "Our Kentucky Home: Hispanic/Latin American Visual in the Commonwealth." You can view a slideshow of the entire exhibit on the arts council website. Episode footnote: Online slideshow of "Our Kentucky Home: Hispanic/Latin American Visual Art in the Commonwealth

Today, Oct. 21, has been designated by the National Endowment for the Arts to be a day to focus on health and wellness in the arts as we celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month. We thought it would be a good idea to highlight an important grant program, the Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grant, administered by the New York Foundation for the Arts. This program provides one-time grants of up to $5,000 for recent unexpected medical, dental, and mental health emergencies to artists in financial need who are practicing in the visual arts, film/video/electronic/digital arts, and choreography. One of our Kentucky Crafted artists, Deb Chenault, received one of these grants and talked with us about what it meant for her, and why artists in Kentucky who need help paying for necessary medical treatment should give this grant a look. Also along for the interview is Mollie Quinlan-Hayes, who administers the grant program for NYFA, and who has valuable information on how to navigate the application process. The next cycle of these grants opens on Nov. 1. Episode footnotes: Mollie Quinlan-Hayes email address - emergencyfunds@nyfa.org Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants information.  Grant FAQs  If you don't quality for a Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grant, the New York Foundation for the Arts maintains a list of other emergency grants for artists Deb Chenault's Kentucky Crafted directory page

  "Don't turn yourself down." That's advice Joyce Garner gives to her fellow Kentucky artists about taking opportunities to advance and promote their work. Joyce was recently named the Kentucky State Fellow in the South Arts Southern Prize competition. Her work will be considered, along with state fellows from each of the South Arts member states, for the $25,000 Southern Prize, which will be announced in a FREE virtual ceremony on June 17. For this episode of the podcast we talked to Joyce about winning the state fellowship, her journey to art, and what inspires her. Episode footnotes: Description of the Southern Prize competition Joyce Garner's artist statement and work Register to watch the 2021 Southern Prize Awards Ceremony on June 17

"Everyone asks me, especially when I'm traveling around the country...'What is it? feel like you all have something special there in Kentucky. Why is it that this idea of a Kentucky writer is such a special thing?' And I think it's special because we're always reaching out for the next wave of writers. That's been part of the tradition." Learn more about the woman who will be Kentucky's literary ambassador for the next two years, Crystal Wilkinson. She will be inducted as Kentucky Poet Laureate April 23 as we celebrate Kentucky Writers' Day.  Episode footnotes: Kentucky Writers' Day page Kentucky Poet Laureate page Watch Kentucky Writers' Day on the Kentucky Arts Council Facebook page or YouTube channel

Arts Week in Kentucky is coming, Feb. 22-26! On this episode of the podcast we get a taste of what to expect during Arts Week with Lori Meadows, chair of Kentuckians for the Arts, and Mark Brown, the Kentucky Arts Council's folk and traditional arts director. Each of them will have a role in bringing the great programming on tap for Arts Week in Kentucky, and they are just the tip of the iceberg. You can register for this FREE week of programming here! Episode footnotes: Kentucky state legislature Kentucky Arts Council's Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant