Media Contact: Tom Musgrave
Communications Director
502-564-3757, ext. 489
tomr.musgrave@ky.gov
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Works by 38 Kentucky artists will be part of “This is 50,” an exhibit celebrating the Kentucky Arts Council’s 50th anniversary. The exhibit will debut at Kentucky Crafted: The Market March 5-6 at the Lexington Convention Center.
Kentucky Crafted: The Market is the Kentucky Arts Council’s signature event produced each year featuring the highest quality art, craft, literature, music and food found in the state. Dozens of Kentucky Crafted and select out-of-state artists, musicians and artisanal food producers make their finest work available to the general public during the two-day event.
The 41 pieces of artwork selected for the exhibit relate to the number 50, with various interpretations from participating artists. The selected artwork includes painting, photography, fiber art, collage, mixed media and other forms.
All Kentucky visual artists were invited to apply for selection to “This is 50.”
Photographer Cheree Federico of Bowling Green chose an indirect interpretation of the theme in her work titled “Bullseye.”
“A lot of my work is very subtle in the message it brings. With ‘This is 50’ being the theme, I didn’t want something that had the actual number ‘50’ in it,” Federico said.
In darts, a bullseye is worth 50 points, so her image of a dart buried dead center in a dartboard, without an obvious visual cue, fits the theme.
“I like to present something that makes people think, ponder a little bit about what I was trying to convey,” she said.
Work by Federico’s husband, Ricardo, is also among the selected pieces for “This is 50.” They each had work in last year’s “Music Scenes” exhibit at The Market.
Another artist from “Music Scenes,” Jason Sturgill of Lexington, is represented in “This is 50” with a mixed media piece titled “Five Stages of Growth With 0 Sum Gain.”
“At first it was a challenge to meet the theme, but I broke the two numbers apart into the 5 stages of life, from birth to being elderly, showing the changes involved in life. And the zero sum gain means that in the end, you’re not coming out of it ahead, so enjoy life while you’re here.”
Sturgill, an art teacher in Fayette County, said he enjoys the opportunity to show his own work.
“Because I’m teacher, I put a lot of ideas into making lessons, and to be able to make some art for myself and to put it out there is very exciting,” he said. “It’s always challenging. You give up a lot of ideas to students, so to get to develop your own ideas is always fun.”
Tom Cannady’s work, “Rough River 1966,” is the Louisville painter’s first to be featured in a Market exhibit. The painting is based on a photo print from his childhood.
“I’m glad that this one is in the exhibit. I love that painting,” Cannady said. “It’s exciting to be able to share that 50-year-old memory with everyone. That’s what Kentucky is about for me, being at the lake. When I look at that, I get a warm feeling of being there; I can almost feel sun on my back.”
The artists selected for “This is 50,” listed by city and title of work or works, are:
- Michelle Armstrong, Lexington, “50 Ways to Love Your Arts Council”
- Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch, Lexington, “Next Year I am 50”
- Debby Bird, Louisville, “Arms of Experience”
- Pat Briney, Bardstown, “50 Chrome”
- Marianne Brown, Lawrenceburg, “Spiro Plate in Red,” “Spiro Plate in Green”
- Tom Cannady, Louisville, “Rough River 1966”
- Dorothy Cline, Georgetown, “Kentucky Landscape”
- Susan Crum-Cox, Lebanon, “Synergy”
- Damon Farmer, Versailles, “Cinquanta”
- Cheree Federico, Bowling Green, “Bullseye”
- Ricardo Federico, Bowling Green, “50mm”
- Sanny Garrett, Louisville, “50 to 1 Odds”
- Ronald Gosses, Richmond, “Celebration”
- Jennifer Hart, Lexington, “Apple Pie”
- Michelle Hayden, Richmond, “At the Stillpoint”
- Paula Haynes, Clarkson, “50/50”
- Jana Kappeler, Carlisle, “To the Horizon of Time”
- Megan Khani, Louisville, “Achievement”
- Christine Levitt, Lexington, “Whirling Around,” “Place & Time”
- Amanda McGowan, Custer, “Celebration Extravaganza”
- Marianna McDonald, Lexington, “Spiral 50”
- Kasandra McNeil, Nancy, “Contemplation on Turning 50”
- Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido, Morehead, “Then & Now: Razor and Blades,” “Then & Now: Scissors”
- Gary Mesa-Gaido, Morehead, “Agricultural Construction, Peru”
- Paula Murphy, Frankfort, “50/50 color”
- Mark Needham, Louisville, “50 Drips”
- Leslie Nichols, Bowling Green, “Reflection on 50”
- Kathleen O’Brien, Harrodsburg, “50 Colors”
- Raymond Papka, Versailles, “Reflections on the Past – Eye on the Future”
- Fran Redmon, Frankfort, “Six of One, Half Dozen of Another”
- De Selby, Nicholasville, “Shaker Lantern”
- Anthony Stollings, Florence, “Days of Eden”
- Paula Stone-Buckner, Mt. Sterling, “The Queen’s Court”
- Jason Sturgill, Lexington, “Five Stages of Growth With 0 Sum Gain”
- Clare Taylor, Bardstown, “50 Bottles of Bourbon on the Wall”
- Kopana Terry, Lexington, “Cannel City Union Church”
- Susan Tolliver, Anchorage, “Fowl Morning”
- Catherine Triplett, Owensboro, “50 Feet Below”
The Market will be 9 a.m.-7 p.m. March 5 and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. March 6 at the Lexington Convention Center. Tickets to Kentucky Crafted: The Market, which includes access to the “This is 50” exhibit and other activities, are available at the door or can be purchased online and are $10 for one day or $15 for two days. Children 15 and under are admitted free with a paying adult. For more information about Kentucky Crafted: The Market, visit the arts council’s website.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, fosters environments 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. In 2016 the arts council celebrates the 50th anniversary of its establishment by the Kentucky General Assembly.
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