Emerging Artist Award

Emerging Artist Award is sponsored by Kentucky Arts Council. This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

Programs Archive - Kentucky Arts Council Arts Access Assistance (AAA) supports arts programming for underserved populations based on a specific, timely theme that changes with every grant cycle. The arts council is currently accepting AAA proposals for $2,500 or $5,000 that incorporate arts-based strategies to enhance the overall health and well-being of individuals and communities in the Commonwealth.

Kentucky Crafted is an adjudicated program that provides assistance to Kentucky visual and craft artists through marketing, promotional opportunities and arts business training. Visual and craft artists must jury into the program to become eligible for the Kentucky Crafted Market and other sponsored events. Kentucky Poet Laureate Nomination The Kentucky General Assembly established the Kentucky Poet Laureate position in 1991.

The Governor appoints the poet laureate for a two-year term.

The word poet in the position's title is interpreted in its broadest sense to include people whose accomplishments are in any recognized literary form, including poetry, fiction, biography, creative nonfiction, playwriting, etc. Teaching Art Together Grant The Kentucky Arts Council strongly encourages you to read and understand the Teaching Art Together Grant guidelines and instructions before accessing the application.

Like all programs of the Kentucky Arts Council, the Teaching Art Together Grant is guided by the arts council’s core values. Successful applications will embody these core values, and all applicants are strongly encouraged to read and reflect upon them before applying.

Kentucky Peer Advisory Network (KPAN) Governor’s Awards in the Arts Nominations The Kentucky Arts Council coordinates the presentation of the Governor’s Awards in the Arts, which recognize individuals and organizations who have made extraordinary and significant contributions to the arts in Kentucky.

Creative Chapters Library Program The Creative Chapters Library Program (CCLP) grant supports hands-on, sequential lifelong learning opportunities in Kentucky public libraries by funding residencies with artists from the Kentucky Arts Council Teaching Artists Directory.

Librarians and artists work in partnership to design and implement the residencies, which may be focused on a specific artistic discipline or explore educational pairings such as dance integrated into a reading campaign, storytelling integrated into a relevant historical/commemorative event, a painting class that connects to environmental awareness, or a writing residency combined with an author study, and more.

The Kentucky Arts Rising (KAR) grant program provides $1,500 for Kentucky-based arts and cultural organizations, with an average annual revenue of less than $100,000, whose primary mission is to provide Kentuckians with year-round arts programming. Applicants with average annual revenue of $100,000 or more must apply for Kentucky Arts Partnership (KAP) https://artscouncil. ky.

gov/program/kentucky-arts-partnership-grant/, which is designed for larger organizations. America250KY: Exploring 250 Years Through the Arts As the United States prepares to celebrate 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, the commonwealth is exploring the people, places, and events that created our shared history over the past 250 years.

As a legacy of this semiquincentennial, artists, organizations, and communities are invited to commemorate this anniversary and interpret its themes through the arts. The Arts Miles Directory connects preschool-12th grade schools with field trip destinations that provide high quality artistic experiences. Schools must choose destinations from the Arts Miles Directory when applying for Arts Miles Grant funding.

Approved organizations will be in the Arts Miles Directory for three years before requiring reapproval. Performing Artists Directory The Performing Artists Directory is an adjudicated roster of professional Kentucky performing artists who have an established performance history.

It is a marketing program that offers roster artists professional development and a variety of opportunities to promote their performance work, including a detailed entry in the online directory. In addition, the directory is used by in-state and out-of-state presenters and others as a resource for identifying artists for performance bookings and projects. (The Kentucky Arts Council does not provide artist management.)

Teaching Artists Directory The Teaching Artists Directory is an online directory of Kentucky artists who produce high quality artistic work and have the skills and competencies needed to work with teachers and students in designing and implementing arts education programs.

Poetry Out Loud Registration Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering free educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition for high school students across the country. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life.

Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the Kentucky Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation. The Kentucky Touring Grant is a matching grant that helps make quality public performances available to the people of the commonwealth. This program provides presenters with support to book dance, music, theatre, and storytelling performers from the Kentucky Arts Council Performing Artists Directory.

Kentucky Arts Partnership Grant The Kentucky Arts Partnership (KAP) grant program provides support for Kentucky-based arts and cultural organizations, with an average annual revenue of $100,000 or more, whose primary mission is to provide Kentuckians with year-round arts programming. Applicants with average annual revenue of less than $100,000 must apply for Kentucky Arts Rising (KAR) https://artscouncil. ky.

gov/program/kentucky-arts-rising/ which is designed for smaller organizations. Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant The Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant provides up to $4,000 for a Kentucky mentor traditional artist to teach skills, practices and culture to a less experienced artist from the same community during the course of a year.

Community Scholars Program The Community Scholars Program trains members of a community in documentation, interpretation and dissemination of their unique local cultural resources and traditional art forms. Training consists of several sessions and occurs twice a year in different communities across the state. Certification as a Community Scholar opens up many opportunities for future research projects.

This grant program enables Kentucky teachers and schools to provide their students with high quality arts experiences by funding transportation to programs provided by organizations in the Arts Miles Directory. Schools may apply for a grant based on the roundtrip mileage from their building to the facility and driver’s pay for up to two buses per field trip.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis between October and March as funding permits. Note: The Arts Miles Grant is a reimbursement program. Approved awards will not be paid until the field trip has been completed and the final report has been submitted.