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Six Kentucky artists have been awarded $7,500 Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowships from the Kentucky Arts Council for exemplifying excellence in their respective creative disciplines.
The prestigious award, named in honor of former arts council board chair and Kentucky journalist Al Smith, recognizes professional artists who have reached a high level of achievement in their careers. Since its beginning in 1983, the program has provided more than $2.5 million in funding to artists in the visual arts, literary arts, media arts, composing and choreography. In this round of funding, the fellowships were awarded to artists in the visual and media arts disciplines.
The 2017 Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship recipients, their discipline and county of residence include:
- Ann Stewart Anderson, mixed media, Jefferson
- Amy Chase, sculpture, Jefferson
- Stacy R. Chinn, sculpture, Fayette
- Mike Elsherif, film, Jefferson
- Wayne Enstice, mixed media, Boone
- Dongfeng Li, painting, Rowan
Li, an associate professor of art at Morehead State University, said the fellowship award gives him a new starting point in his career, and provides the impetus to do new cultural research.
“I have been working on my research for the comparison of the people in different cultures and professions in different countries. Especially the ethnic group people in the United States of America and in China. So I plan to use the award to do the travel, art supply and art related equipment for my research.
“In recent years, I have been working on portrait and figure painting,” Li added. “I am interested in the difference in the professions, culture and education status among people of different countries. When I spend time doing the investigation, I find the differences and similarities are amazing.”
Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowships are awarded in different disciplines each year on a rotating schedule. The next round of fellowship applications will be open to literary artists (fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and play/screenwriting).
In addition to the Al Smith Fellowship recipients, three Kentucky artists will receive Emerging Artist Awards. This $1,000 award recognizes practicing, professional artists who create original work and are in the first 10 years of their arts careers.
For this round of Emerging Artist Awards, panelists considered entries from artists in the visual and media arts disciplines.
The 2017 Emerging Artist Award recipients, their discipline and county of residence include:
- Jason Gray, video, Kenton
- Justine Riley, sculpture, Graves
- Michelle Strader, ceramics, Boyd
Emerging Artist Award applications are accepted in different disciplines on a rotating basis. The next round of awards will be for literary artists (fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and play/screenwriting).
“Our Al Smith Fellowship and Emerging Artist Award recipients represent the best in their disciplines, and we count them as ambassadors for Kentucky’s artistic excellence,” said Lydia Bailey Brown, arts council executive director. “Their awards are well deserved, and we look forward to more great work from them in the future.”
For more information on the Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship and the Emerging Artist Award, contact Tamara Coffey, arts council individual artist director, at tamara.coffey@ky.gov or 502-892-3121.
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.
Mayor Greg Fischer has signed into law an ordinance that would require Louisville Metro Police to report allegations of child abuse against one of their own to state authorities.
The law codifies a policy Mayor Fischer put into place this spring requiring an extra layer of reporting when it comes to Metro employees accused of child sex abuse. The policy and ordinance, passed recently by Metro Council, was spurred by the abuse allegations in the LMPD Explorer case.
The Mayor cited the Metro policy and ordinance as examples of the city’s process working correctly. Once a weakness in reporting requirements was identified, the city strengthened the process through internal policy change. Meanwhile, Metro Council passed the ordinance, which the Mayor has now signed.
“This was an example of all of us working toward a better, more in-depth reporting requirement when it involves law enforcement and children,” Fischer said.
A long-awaited project to make a Watterson Expressway exit safer is underway, making travel into Shively and Dixie Highway more efficient and less hair-raising for drivers and pedestrians.
The construction is the first phase of an accelerated plan to improve safety and traffic efficiency throughout the Dixie Highway corridor – a comprehensive set of projects that will invest more than $50 million along the highway over the next two years in the city’s busiest highway.
Mayor Greg Fischer joined Congressman John Yarmuth and representatives from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Metro Council to announce the beginning of the ramp realignment, and to preview the additional projects that will make the entire highway safer and easier to travel for both drivers and pedestrians.
“Traffic-choking designs like the current exit ramp make it difficult to get to our thriving businesses in south and west Louisville. This realignment will be a relief for every driver who travels in this area,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “This project is the jump-start for a series of improvements that will transform Dixie Highway and our neighborhoods in the south and west.”
About the realignment project
The current exit from I-264 westbound onto northbound Dixie Highway is short, and funnels directly into Dixie Highway without a designated merge lane or stoplight. Traffic often backs up along the ramp as drivers wait to safely move onto Dixie.
The project will realign the I-264 westbound ramp to Dixie Highway (US31) north into a T-intersection, including a traffic signal to safely move vehicles off the exit. The southbound lanes of Dixie are unaffected by this project. A new sidewalk under the Watterson Expressway will be added later.
“This exit ramp is a white-knuckle journey for drivers, and it’s tricky for northbound Dixie vehicles to navigate as well,” said Matt Bullock, chief district engineer for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. “By improving this ramp, we’ll make arriving on Dixie Highway a safer, more welcoming experience for drivers and pedestrians.”
The realignment project will require the exit ramp to be closed for a total of nine consecutive days (including two weekends to limit traffic impacts). The contractor, Milestone, has not yet identified those closure dates. The $724,000 project is scheduled to be completed by November.
“The City of Shively is excited for the project to begin, and we are looking forward to the changes it will create for us and all of Dixie Highway,” said Shively mayor Sherry Conner. “We are thankful for all the support we have received from all parties – whether it was financial or moral, we appreciate it.”
More Dixie improvements to come
The ramp realignment is the first phase of a two-year construction plan for significant improvements throughout the corridor, called the New Dixie Highway Project. Those improvements will fuel transformation of a major economic corridor for southwest and west Louisville.
The New Dixie Highway Project is the first major construction project from Mayor Fischer’s “Move Louisville” initiative.
Fueled by a nearly $17 million federal TIGER grant, the New Dixie Highway Project will include new fiber-linked traffic signals, new concrete and landscaped medians, and a first-in-the-city bus rapid transit line from TARC to run between downtown and the Gene Snyder Freeway.
“The New Dixie Highway project is the largest concentrated investment in Louisville’s transportation network since we began the Ohio River Bridges Project,” Fischer said. “When complete, the new Dixie Highway will be safer for everyone, more efficient for motorists, more reliable for transit users and more enticing for business owners, consumers and investors.”
“This is another important step forward in making Dixie Highway safer and improving the commute for drivers and pedestrians alike,” said Congressman Yarmuth. “Transportation goes hand and hand with economic growth, so I’ll continue to work with federal, state, and local leaders to make sure we pursue every opportunity available to fund these critical projects.”
The project is currently up for bid through the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and construction may begin as early as this fall, with completion expected in December 2019.
Find more information about the project at www.TheNewDixieHighway.com or by following Facebook (search for The New Dixie Highway), and on Twitter @NewDixieHighway or Twitter @NewDixieHighway.
Photo: Kentucky Department Fish and Wildlife
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is changing its application process for the popular mentor-youth dove hunts being offered Sept. 2. The hunts allow adults to take kids hunting in dove fields that limit the number of participants.
Traditionally, people had to call the department to sign up for a mentor-youth dove hunt. These were handled on a first-come, first-served basis. By switching to an online registration, more people can apply, with the winners being selected at random. There is no fee to apply.
“The idea behind this is to create a fairer system,” said John Brunjes, migratory bird program coordinator for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “People who had the ability to call at 8 a.m. on the first day of registration had an advantage over those who could not.”
Online registration for these hunts is now open and concludes at 4:30 p.m. (Eastern) Aug. 18. Hunters can find dove field locations, maps and online applications at fw.ky.gov, the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife website. Field locations will also be published in the department’s dove hunting guide.
Kentucky will offer four mentor-youth dove hunting fields this season.
“People have two weeks to apply,” Brunjes said. “Mentors must go online and complete the registration. Then, they can go back to the website on Aug. 25 to see if they were drawn for the mentor hunt.”
Photo: Lakshmi Sriraman of Lexington was one of seven recipients of a Kentucky Arts Council Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant. Sriraman teaches the traditional Indian dance style Bharatanatyam.
Seven Kentucky master artists have been awarded Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grants from the Kentucky Arts Council.
The Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant provides $3,000 to a Kentucky master folk or traditional artist to teach skills, practices and culture to a less experienced artist from the same community during the course of a year.
The seven recipients are folk or traditional artists who are considered masters within their community and who have identified an apprentice from the same community who has potential to become a master. Both master and apprentice must be Kentucky residents.
Among the recipients of the grant was Lakshmi Sriraman, artistic director of the Shree School of Dance in Lexington. Sriraman is an accomplished performer, teacher and choreographer of Bharatanatyam, one of the oldest classical dance forms of India, dating back to 1000 B.C. The dance style is known for its rhythmic and ornate footwork along with narrative storytelling. Sriraman will teach apprentice Vasundhara Parameswaran, also of Lexington.
The grant will not only allow Sriraman to teach her apprentice about Bharatanatyam, but will prepare Parameswaran to become a teacher herself.
“Other than me, there is no other teacher of this dance style in central Kentucky, so I’m happy to train my student and bring her to a level where she can teach, do workshops and take this tradition forward,” Sriraman said. “It gives me great pleasure to know it will live on.
“This is a shot in the arm,” Sriraman added. “The fact that Kentucky recognizes what we do as something worthy to invest in gives us more joy and confidence in what we’re doing.”
In addition to the $3,000 grant from the arts council, Sriraman received a $1,000 anonymous donation from a member of the Lexington-based International “We Serve” Foundation.
The masters and apprentices who will receive funding include:
- Cynthia Sue Massek (Willisburg), who will teach Appalachian women’s music to Melody Youngblood (Berea);
- Lakshmi Sriraman (Lexington), who will teach Bharatanatyam (Indian dance style) to Vasundhara Parameswaran (Lexington);
- Justin Bonar-Bridges (Ft. Thomas), who will teach traditional Irish music and Clare style fiddling to Emmanuel Gray (Covington);
- Hong Shao (Nicholasville), who will teach pipa (traditional Chinese stringed instrument) to Leah Werking (Carlisle);
- Douglas Naselroad (Winchester), who will teach guitar making to Kris Patrick (Mousie);
- Gary Cornett (Louisville), who will teach old time Kentucky fiddling and luthiery to Walter Lay (Louisville); and
- John Harrod (Owenton), who will teach eastern Kentucky old time fiddle tunes and style to James Webb (Frankfort).
Visit the Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant page of the arts council’s website for more information or contact Mark Brown, arts council folk and traditional arts director, at mark.brown@ky.gov or 502-892-3115.
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.
Photo: Kearney Family
Gov. Matt Bevin today hosted a special ceremony at the Kentucky State Capitol to present two distinguished Kentuckians, Lori Doppelheuer Kearney of Maysville (posthumously) and Lou Scharold of Alexandria, with the Carnegie Hero Medal.
Established by industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1904, this award recognizes individuals who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree in attempting to save others. Since its inception, 159 Kentuckians have earned this honor.
“While bittersweet, it is an honor and privilege to recognize Kentucky heroes like Lou Scharold and the family of Lori Kearney,” said Gov. Bevin. “These are powerful stories for all of us, and we are thankful for their heroism.”
Lori Doppelheuer Kearney, 35, died attempting to save her sons Christopher Kearney (age 10), Eagan Hargis (age 3) and Kieran Hargis (age 20 months) from a fire at their Maysville home on Oct. 20, 2015. After being awoken by the fire, Lori helped four first-floor occupants of her house escape. She then headed upstairs through dense smoke in an attempt to rescue her children on the second floor. Lori was found on the floor of the younger boys’ bedroom, cradling Kieran, with Eagan and Christopher lying nearby. All four had died of smoke inhalation.
Lou Scharold, 72, saved Rumpke truck driver Brian Ashcraft after his vehicle was struck nearly head-on by a pickup truck traveling the wrong direction on U.S. Highway 27 in Campbell County on April 25, 2016. Despite intense heat, Scharold reached through the broken-out windshield of the refuse truck, grasped Ashcraft by the arm, and led him away from the burning vehicle to safety. Ashcraft is still employed by Rumpke (currently in his 24th year of service) and says he is “forever thankful” that Lou came to his rescue.
The Facebook Live video of the full ceremony can be accessed here.
Photo: Scharold Family
The public archery trail at Curtis Gates Lloyd Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Grant County is closed until further notice for cleanup and repairs after storms littered the trail with debris and damaged some targets.
The ¼-mile trail courses through the wooded area near Leary Lake and includes 15 targets of varying yardage.
White ash trees dominate this section of the WMA and many are dead because of the invasive emerald ash borer. The standing snags pose a danger to trail users.
Strong storms toppled several trees and snapped limbs earlier this summer. The debris is blocking target lanes and some target stands are in need of repair or replacement.
The public archery range on the WMA remains open while the archery trail is closed.
