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Kentucky

Facts and Figures

In the past five years, the National Endowment for the Arts distributed $10,874,104 in federal funding, either directly or through state and regional partners, in Kentucky.

In the most recent information (2020) from the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA), which is produced jointly by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Office of Research & Analysis and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Commerce Department, Kentucky...

  • Added 2.6 percent or $5.6 billion to the state economy from arts and cultural production
  • Employed 46,652 workers in the arts and cultural industries, with workers earning wages and benefits totaling more than $2.8 billion

Almost 39 percent of Kentucky’s adults attended live music, theater, or dance performances, while more than 14 percent attended art exhibits, according to the 2017 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau.

In addition to offering direct grants, the NEA supports national initiatives benefiting people across the country:

Blue Star Museums program provided free admission to thousands of active military personnel and their families at 23 participating museums in Kentucky.

An average of more than 2,704 students from 43 high schools in Kentucky participated in Poetry Out Loud annually.

For the NEA Big Read initiative, 314 community events were held in the state involving more than 42,850 adults and students.


Kentucky Fact Sheet

On this page, find information on the arts and culture for Kentucky, and how the National Endowment for the Arts has supported the arts in communities throughout the state. Below are highlights of just some of Arts Endowment grantees and artists working in Kentucky. 

To find a list of grants awarded by the agency to Kentucky, go to our Recent Grant Search. 

State Highlights

Three actresses portray suffragettes in a scene from a play

Honoring Their Voices

Playwright Diana Grisanti has vivid memories of seeing plays at StageOne Family Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky, as a child and jumped at the chance to write a new play for StageOne about women’s suffrage, which premiered on February 1, 2020, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Read Magazine Article
Man and woman examine a dulcimer

Creative Approaches to Problem-Solving

Located in the state’s eastern Appalachian region, Appalachian Artisan Center of Hindman, Kentucky, shows how the arts can provide a way forward for the town’s 750 residents, the community, and the region as a whole.
Read Magazine Article
A group of people standing around a newly build table.

A New Shared Value

In Louisville, Kentucky, Theo Edmonds, along with Josh Miller, Ayelet Aldouby, and Chris Radtke, founded IDEAS 40203, an organization designed to activate and train creative workers into "agents of change."
Read Magazine Article
an older African American man stands face to face with a very large size bronze sculpture of Abraham Lincoln

Art Talk with Sculptor Ed Hamilton

May 25, 2018
Sculptor Ed Hamilton has been fascinated by three-dimensional objects ever since he was a young boy in Louisville, Kentucky.
Read Blog
a racially diverse group of young people playing fiddles and banjos on a low stage

Building Economy and Community with Cultural Assets

Dec 06, 2016
An excerpt from the Arts Endowment publication "How to do Creative Placemaking" looks at Appalshop.
Read Blog
Film crew recording an elderly man on his porch

NEA Milestone Video: Appalshop

Aug 25, 2015
In this 50th anniversary milestone video, we feature the nonprofit Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky.
View Video
A woman with a dulcimer on her lap.

Jean Ritchie

2002
Jean Ritchie, the recipient of the Bess Lomax Hawes National Heritage Fellowship, is a significant musician and songwriter, as well as a cultural activist and chronicler of her home region in the Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky.
Go to profile
Man in cowboy hat playing a mandolin on stage.

Bill Monroe

1982
1982 National Heritage Fellow Bill Monroe practically single-handedly created bluegrass music, singing in a style he called "high lonesome."
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Headshot of a woman.

Leona Waddell

2016
A revered leader in the white oak basketmaking community, 2016 National Heritage Fellow Leona Trulock Waddell is a master artist whose basketmaking skills have been perfected by her years of experience.
Go to profile
Everett McCorvey

Everett McCorvey

Jul 29, 2010
Operatic tenor Everett McCorvey talks about how he was drawn into the music, how he helped build the opera program at University of Kentucky, and the difference between spirituals and gospel, among other topics. 
Listen to Audio
US Map

United States of Arts: Kentucky

Sep 29, 2015
In collaboration with the Kentucky Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts looks at the arts and culture of Kentucky as part of its celebration of the 50th anniversary of the agency's establishment.
View Video

State & Regional Contacts

Kentucky Arts Council

1025 Capital Center Dr., 3rd Floor
Frankfort, KY 40601
502/564-3757
kyarts@ky.gov

South Arts (Regional Arts Organization)
1800 Peachtree Street, Suite 808
Atlanta, GA 30309
404/874-7244
southarts@southarts.org 

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