The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded nearly $800,000 in grant funding to Kentucky agencies and arts organizations – including more than $700,000 to the Kentucky Arts Council – in its latest round of grants.
The arts council will receive $710,500 from the NEA through its state partnership agreement grants for the state arts agency’s 2015 fiscal year budget.
Partnership funding is awarded annually to state-level arts agencies nationwide. The arts council is the only agency in Kentucky designated to receive state partnership funding from the NEA.
“The funding the arts council receives from the National Endowment for the Arts allows us to further our mission of creating opportunities through the arts to enrich the lives of all Kentuckians,” said Lori Meadows, arts council executive director. “We thank the NEA for its continued support and congratulate the Kentucky arts organizations and others that received grant funding.”
Additional Kentucky grant recipients for this year are:
Pioneer Playhouse, Danville, $15,000, to support Voices Inside: The Northpoint Prison Writing and Performance Project.
Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra, Lexington, $10,000, to support the North Limestone MusicWorks program.
Portland Museum, Louisville, $24,000 to support the exhibition “Celebration of the Book: A Year of Book Arts.”
Murray State University, Murray, $10,000, to support an arts education program sponsored by the university gallery.
Appalshop, Whitesburg, $30,000, to support the ongoing development and premiere of the bilingual musical play “Betsy,” a partnership between its Roadside Theater and Pregones Theater in the Bronx, N.Y.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts.
Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government.
To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities.
The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies and the philanthropic sector.
