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Kentucky Arts Council accepting applications for Kentucky Crafted Program through mid-August


The Kentucky Arts Council is accepting applications for the Kentucky Crafted program through Aug. 15.

The adjudicated arts marketing program provides assistance to Kentucky visual and craft artists through networking, promotional and sales opportunities and arts business training. Carrying the Kentucky Crafted brand is a symbol of artistic excellence in the Commonwealth. Artists who use the brand have been adjudicated by an independent panel of professional artists and leaders within the arts community.

Among many other benefits and privileges, Kentucky Crafted artists become eligible to exhibit at the annual Kentucky Crafted Market.

“Artists in the Kentucky Crafted program enjoy more than just the right to use the Kentucky Crafted brand on their work,” said Dave Blevins, arts council arts marketing director. “There are several benefits to being in Kentucky Crafted that artists like Justine Riley have taken advantage of to put their arts business on solid footing.”

“I came into the program and, right away, I did The Market. That was a benefit in a lot of ways,” said Riley, a bookbinding artist from Mayfield who juried into the program in 2017. “It helped me focus on my work as a book artist. Doing the show was the first large nonlocal show I had done. One of artists I chatted with at the show saw my work and suggested I jury into the American Craft Council, which I eventually did, and I’m still finding out what other doors might open as a result of jurying into Kentucky Crafted.”

Kentucky Crafted artists are also eligible to apply for consultancies from the Kentucky Peer Advisory Network (KPAN). Riley applied for and was granted a consultancy with Georgetown glass artist Dan Neil Barnes, who helped Riley with her booth design before her first outing at The Market.

“Dan spent so much time with us and provided so much good information on booth design,” Riley said. “I was learning it for The Market, but it’s a skill you have to think about that goes beyond one show. Even when I set up my booth at the local farmers market, I think about what Dan said.”

In addition to exhibiting at The Kentucky Crafted Market, being eligible for KPAN consultancies and multiple networking benefits, Kentucky Crafted artists are eligible to use the Kentucky Crafted logo on their websites and any printed material, including merchandise tags; be included in the arts council’s online directory for artists; sell work at the Governor’s Derby Celebration; and take advantage of cooperative advertising and exhibit opportunities.

For more information about the program, contact Dave Blevins, arts council arts marketing director, at david.blevins@ky.gov or 502-892-3120.

Kentucky Arts Council


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