The Kentucky Arts Council, established in 1966, is the Kentucky state arts agency, and is responsible for developing and promoting support for

the arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

in Kentucky. Part of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, the Kentucky Arts Council is publicly funded by the

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in the ...

and the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, an independent agency of the

United States federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 ...

. The Council's 14-person board of directors serve four-year terms.

History

In 2016 the council's budget was cut by $170,00, spread over two and a half years. Its budget had been $3.7 million. The following year the National Endowment for the Arts awarded $746,500 to the Council, a 5% increase from 2016 funding. In March 2019 the council took on a new executive director, Chris Cathers. He had been interim executive director since 2017. In January 2021 the council honored the nine 2020 recipients of the Kentucky Governor’s Awards in the Arts in a virtual ceremony. The Awards have been given since 1977. In May 2021 it was announced that Kentucky would receive more than $800,000 in federal funding to support recovery of the state’s arts industry as it recovers from the

COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky on March 6, 2020, when Governor Andy Beshear's office announced the first confirmed case in Cynthiana, Kentucky, and declared a state of emergency to ensure al ...

. The Council will determine how the funding will be distributed to arts organizations in Kentucky.

References

{{authority control Arts Council History of Kentucky National Endowment for the Arts 1966 establishments in Kentucky Arts councils of the United States Arts organizations established in 1966 Government agencies established in 1966 Arts foundations based in the United States Arts organizations based in Kentucky Kentucky culture Art in Kentucky