The Kentucky Arts Council's communications and technology branch manager Sandie Lawrence is retiring at the end of 2020, closing a chapter on her 25-year career at the Kentucky Arts Council. She recently chatted with coworkers Tom Musgrave and Emily Moses about building the arts council's first website, the advent of that strange new communications method called email, what she'll miss about working for the Commowealth of Kentucky, her philosophy about life, and how parenting influenced her inte...
Dec 29, 2020•39 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Last year, we spent time with the folks who lead Consolidated Baptist Church's Summer Enrichment Program, a unique education program, which includes the arts among other academic disciplines. This program serves the youth of Lexington, lasting for several weeks, and we supported it with funding last year. When they wanted to go virtual for this summer, we provided assistance again in the form of a virtual teaching artist residency and technical support. On this episode, we talk with program dire...
Oct 21, 2020•48 min•Season 2Ep. 8
This past spring, the Kentucky Arts Council, with our friends at the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, entered into a partnership with the for-profit group Artrepreneur. Founded in 2015, Artrepreneur is an e-commerce platform that serves more than 40,000 visual and craft artists from more than 50 countries. Joining us are Steve Schlackman from Artrepreneur, Heather Pontonio of the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, Kentucky Crafted artist David Shadwick and Emily Moses, executive staff advisor of the...
Oct 05, 2020•31 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Kentucky's connection to poetry will be the subject of a an upcoming episode of the documentary series "Poetry Unites America." On this episode of KyArtsCast, we talk with Ewa Sandrzynska, the documentary filmmaker behind the series, about how Kentuckians can contribute to the episode via an essay contest she is conducting. Deadline for submission to the contest is Sept. 15, so listen to this episode to find out more about the project! We also chat with Tamara Coffey of the Kentucky Arts Council...
Aug 20, 2020•36 min•Season 2Ep. 7
The Kentucky Arts Council is currently accepting applications to the Kentucky Crafted program, the state's juried arts marketing program. The deadline to apply to this free program is Aug. 17. On this episode of KyArtsCast we talk with three artists in the Kentucky Crafted program: Michelle Hayden of Michelle Hayden of Michelle Hayden Fine Art in Berea, Rob Bridges of Rob Bridges Illustration in Georgetown, and Amy Henson of Rock Bottom Soap in London. We also talk about the program benefits and...
Aug 04, 2020•53 min•Season 2Ep. 6
With Kentucky's Healthy at Work guidelines gradually reopening sectors of the state's economy, we talk with folks from three of our sister agencies in the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet - Gwen Heffner of the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea, Erin Palmer of Kentucky Performing Arts (formerly the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts) and Nick Covault of the Governor's School for the Arts. Each of them talks about how their agencies have adapted to the social restrictions put in pla...
Jun 24, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 5
You may not have known that award-winning Kentucky writer Maurice Manning has been the Kentucky Arts Council's featured artist . The spot on the arts council homepage usually reserved for the featured artist has been used to communicate valuable COVID-19 related resources for artists and arts organizations throughout the pandemic. But we wanted to put Maurice out front and center in a meaningful way, so we're giving you this chance to learn more about him on this episode. Arts council staff memb...
Jun 17, 2020•50 min•Season 2Ep. 4
We're paying tribute to former Kentucky First Lady Phyllis George, who died last month at the age of 70. Phyllis was integral to starting what is now known as the Kentucky Crafted arts marketing program. Our guests, Mary Reed, Fran Redmon, Tim Hall and Judy Geagley, each have their own personal reflections on what Phyllis' belief in Kentucky-made art and craft meant to them. Join us as we celeebrate the life of this inspiring woman.
Jun 03, 2020•53 min•Season 2Ep. 3
NOTE: Since the recording of this episode, the Native Reflections exhibit tour has been put on hold. You can see work in the exhibit by visiting the Kentucky Arts Council website and viewing a slideshow. The Kentucky Arts Council, in partnership with the Kentucky Heritage Council and the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission, is presenting Native Reflections: Visual Art by American Indians of Kentucky. This traveling exhibit will feature inspiring pieces of art by Kentucky residents who i...
May 05, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 2
It's Poetry Month across the country and it's also the month we celebrate Kentucky Writers' Day, April 24. On this episode, Kentucky Arts Council staff member Tamara Coffey talks literature, self-isolation and inspiration with current Kentucky Poet Laureate Jeff Worley and former poets laureate George Ella Lyon and Richard Taylor. To learn more about Kentucky Writers' Day, visit the Kentucky Writers' Day Facebook event page or the arts council website . Episode footnotes The Writer's Almanac The...
Apr 07, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 1
It's been a year since we debuted KyArtsCast, so we wanted to take a few minutes to acknowledge the occasion and shine a spotlight on the folks here at the Kentucky Arts Council who collaborate every day to bring outstanding arts programs and grants to every corner of the Commonwealth. We also want to hear from YOU! As we enter the second season of the podcast, we'd like to know what you'd like to hear on the podcast. Email Tom Musgrave, arts council communications director, at tomr.musgrave@ky....
Dec 20, 2019•5 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Chris Cathers, executive director of the Kentucky Arts Council, and Todd Finley, executive director of the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea, chat about the importance of shopping local and how and where to find wonderful examples of art and craft by Kentucky artists. It's your guide to shopping local this holiday season!
Dec 02, 2019•42 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Rick Hill, the resident artist at the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources who has painted original covers for the department's publication Kentucky Afield, talks about how he started as a nature artist and his creative process. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and the Kentucky Arts Council recently partnered to present an exhibit of Rick's work at the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort. The exhibit runs through Nov. 26 during normal Capitol visitor hours. Rick Hill...
Nov 13, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Listen and learn how to win FREE tickets to the Kentucky Creative Industry Summit, Dec. 6 at the Clay Community Center in Mt. Sterling! For this episode, Emily Moses, Kentucky Arts Council executive staff advisor, talks with Mitzi Sinnott, Heather Pontonio, Kurt Gohde and Kremena Todorova, all of whom will be among the presenters at the 2019 Kentucky Creative Industry Summit. This year's summit theme is Race, Equity, Access, Diversity and Inclusion, and our presenters will lead interactive discu...
Nov 05, 2019•43 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Emily Moses, Kentucky Arts Council executive staff advisor, continues her chat with Beth Flowers, executive director of the AIR Institute of Berea College. In part two of this episode, that was recorded in July, Beth and Emily discuss the AIR Institute's 2 1/2-day workshop called AIR Shift. The workshop brings artists and members of the business community together to develop a worthwhile and achievable community improvement project, and gives participants the tools to repeat that collaboration t...
Oct 09, 2019•50 min•Season 1Ep. 14
National Arts in Education Week (Sept. 8-14) is coming up and we thought it was a good time to highlight a valuable educational program that the Kentucky Arts Council offered its support to this summer. This unique educational opportunity available to Fayette County Youth, the Summer Enrichment Program at Consolidated Baptist Church, is a four-week program that connects the arts to STEM skills and agriculture in a meaningful way to youth in kindergarten through fifth grade. We talked with progra...
Sep 05, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 14
In May, Louisville's iconic Galt House Hotel introduced the public to its inaugural artist in residence, geometric abstract artist Gibbs Rounsavall. This residency is believed to be the first of its kind for a Kentucky hotel. In this episode of KyArtsCast we talk to Gibbs as well as Scott Shoenberger, president and CEO of the Al J. Schneider Company, which owns the Galt House. Listen in and learn more about this fantastic new initiative. Episode footnotes: Galt House Hotel Artist in Residence we...
Aug 22, 2019•46 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Back in March we visited the 2019 Lexington Comic & Toy Convention at Lexington Convention Center. Our mission was twofold. We wanted to talk to the artists in our Kentucky Crafted program who also exhibit at the convention and find out why it makes sense from an artistic and business perspective to have a presence at Comic Con. We also chatted with a handful of costume players, or cosplayers as they are commonly known - folks who create a costume based around their favorite character and/or...
Jul 24, 2019•30 min•Season 1Ep. 11
We've packed up the podcast studio and hit the road for this episode. Join us as we learn more about an important art-based component of substance abuse addiction recovery called The Culture of Recovery, and initiative of the Appalachian Artisan Center. We're talking with two participants in the recovery program, Kim Patton and Nathan Smith, along with program coordinator Savannah Napier Hall and instructors Doug Naselroad, Dan Estep and Kirk Banks. Episode footnotes Culture of Recovery Facebook...
Jul 10, 2019•57 min•Season 1Ep. 11
The third annual Artists Thrive Summit is July 30-Aug. 2 in Berea, and for this episode Emily Moses, Kentucky Arts Council executive staff advisor, is chatting with Beth Flowers, executive director of the AIR Insitute of Berea College and a member of the summit leadership team. Emily and Beth talk about what goes on at the summit, who should be there (spoiler alert...YOU) and how to get a 75 percent discount on registration! Episode footnotes Artists Thrive Summit Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation...
Jun 30, 2019•38 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Listen in as we chat with three Kentucky Crafted artists, Deb Chenault, Justine Riley and Bill Berryman, about their work, what makes it unique and how they've benefited from being juried into Kentucky Crafted. The application process for Kentucky Crafted is open through Aug. 15, and this episode also features the Kentucky Arts Council's arts marketing director, Dave Blevins. Dave talks about the program guidelines and navigates the answers to questions that artists frequently ask about applying...
Jun 19, 2019•54 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Remarks from newly installed Kentucky Poet Laureate Jeff Worley of Lexington and outgoing poet laureate Frederick Smock of Louisville made April 24, Kentucky Writers' Day, at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives.
May 13, 2019•31 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Meet Lori Larusso, Lexington visual artist and the South Arts Kentucky State Fellow in the third annual Southern Prize competition. Lori represented Kentucky among the nine other State Fellow, each from one of the South Arts member states, last month at the Southern Prize awards ceremony in Columbia, S.C. On this episode we’re chatting with Lori about her life in art, the work that earned her the distinction of Kentucky State Fellow and what awards like that, and her 2012 Al Smith Individual Art...
May 09, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Kentucky Writers' Day is just around the corner, 10 a.m. April 24 at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, and to get stoked for it we brough two Kentucky Poets Laureate into Studio B for a chat about Kentucky poetry, literature and the poet laureate position. Tamara Coffey, Kentucky Arts Council organization support and individual artists director, takes the interview microphone for a lively chat with incoming Kentucky Poet Laureate Jeff Worley and former poet laureate Richard Tay...
Apr 17, 2019•55 min•Season 1Ep. 6
If you missed out on the chance to visit The Kentucky Crafted Market last month, you also missed an opportunity to hear fantastic live music from the Kentucky Stage. Not to worry. We've curated highlights from groups that performed on the stage and collected them in this special episode. Each group or individual that performed on the Kentucky Stage is a member of the Kentucky Arts Council's adjudicated Performing Artists Directory , a valuable resource for people looking for entertainment at any...
Apr 08, 2019•51 min•Season 1Ep. 5
This month’s podcast is all about love for the arts, and the upcoming Kentucky Crafted Market , March 16-17 at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena. Our guests are musician Marcus Wilkerson and visual artists Alisha Martin, Dave Shadwick and Lakshmi Sriraman. They each talk about what made them fall in love with creating art, and their excitement for the upcoming Kentucky Crafted Market. More information on each of this episode’s artists can be found on their respective directory pages on the...
Feb 20, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Tom Musgrave chats with Doris Thurber, a cofounder of Franklin County's Hands Healing HeArts initiative, and Angie Boone, one of the Hands Healing HeArts participants, about this unique addiction recovery support program centered around the visual arts. Hands Healing HeArts works in cooperation with Franklin County Drug Court, using a variety of hands-on, multi-disciplinary artistic approaches with women in Drug Court to support their recovery. During the course of this conversation, we talk abo...
Jan 24, 2019•49 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Tom Musgrave, Kentucky Arts Council communications director, and Chris Cathers, interim executive director chat about how the podcast came about, behind the scenes stuff at the Kentucky Arts Council and some initiatives involving art as therapy for Kentucky's military veterans. We also discuss work in the arts council's Kentucky Veteran Project exhibit, which can be seen in a slideshow here . You can also see the traveling schedule for the exhibit as it moves around Kentucky....
Dec 24, 2018•46 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Just a chance to dip your toe into the Kentucky Arts Council's monthly podcast, KyArtsCast.
Dec 14, 2018•54 sec•Season 1Ep. 1
