The Art Center of the Bluegrass has been approved for a $11,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support “Creative Connections,” a new exhibit under development for 2023. The grant will fund a three-month exhibition to showcase the creativity of artists with disabilities, both within Kentucky and from around the country.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts and cultural organizations throughout the nation with these grants, including Art Center of the Bluegrass, providing opportunities for all of us to live artful lives,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “The arts contribute to our individual well-being, the well-being of our communities, and to our local economies. The arts are also crucial to helping us make sense of our circumstances from different perspectives as we emerge from the pandemic and plan for a shared new normal informed by our examined experience.”

Executive Director Niki Kinkade says the organization is delighted by the grant award. “This exhibit is a tangible representation of our commitment to strengthening inclusive arts programming in our region.” In addition to the exhibit itself, field trips and community programs during the exhibition will increase community appreciation for artists with disabilities and will provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities to engage with the artwork and the creative process.

Creative Connections will be the third in a series of major exhibitions that amplify the perspectives of artists from diverse backgrounds, in alignment with the Art Center’s 2020 Commitment to Diversity. Their 2021 show was “The Art of Being Black: Conversations and Experience,” followed by the 2022 show “Appalachia from the Inside: Celebrating Kentucky’s Appalachian Art and Culture.”

The Creative Connections exhibit will be on display in the winter of 2023 and will include commissioned artwork, an open call-to-artists, and artwork created by regional students.