Co-produced by Production Simple and The Kentucky Center
In honor of the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," Louisville's Dark Side of the Wall recreates the tour that introduced the world to the quadraphonic surround sound concert experience. The band will perform the album in its entirety as well as visit the catalog of 1970s-era Pink Floyd.
Comedian Lewis Black returns to Louisville's Brown Theatre October 6 with his new show, "The Rant is Due." Black sold-out his Brown Theatre engagement in 2012. Tickets start at $38.50, reserved seating, fees apply. Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, May 24, at 10 a.m., via The Kentucky Center online, by phone (502.584.7777), and in-person at the box office counter and drive-thru.
A multiple Grammy Award-winning stand-up comedian, Lewis Black is one of the most prolific and popular performers working today. A rare comic who can cause an audience to laugh hysterically while making compelling points about the absurdity of our world, Black rants in order to provide a cathartic - and highly entertaining - release of anger and disillusionment for his audience. This "formula" has brought him critical acclaim around the world as a stand-up comic, actor, and author.
This June, “one million bones” which have been crafted out of clay at workshops by tens of thousands of children and young adults, will be installed all across the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to bring awareness to the human costs of genocide and ongoing conflicts around the globe.
On May 20, The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts will host a similar installation of bones that have been made in Kentucky before they are transported to the national exhibition in Washington.
Local community members, school children and participants in The Kentucky Center’s ArtsReach program worked with artist in residence Aletia Robey to create bones which will be temporarily installed at the Center. The installation will be open to the public for viewing during regular Kentucky Center hours.
The installation is timed to coincide with the Dalai Lama’s visit to Louisville, in an effort to reinforce his message of, and our community’s commitment to, compassionate engagement.
The Kentucky Center’s ArtsReach program regularly collaborates with community centers throughout Metro Louisville to provide quality, hands-on arts experiences and professional development to engage and educate in new and eye-opening ways.
The national One Million Bones initiative, conceived as a visible petition against genocide and conflict-related crises, is designed to raise awareness of the suffering and struggle of people in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burma and Somalia.
More powerful than a signature, these bones become tangible ways for ArtsReach students to engage in art, culture, and global issues.
Out of more than 1800 applicants, these students were chosen across nine creative disciplines: architecture, creative writing, dance, drama, instrumental music, musical theatre, new media, visual art, and vocal music.
Every summer for the past twenty-five years, GSA and our faculty of professional artist/educators have guided over two hundred of Kentucky’s finest young artists through three weeks of incredibly intense (and incredibly fun) arts instruction (since 2000, on the campus of Transylvania University in Lexington).
For three solid weeks, the students live, breathe, eat and sleep the arts. It’s a thrilling, often life-changing experience, as they meet new friends, explore their creativity, and discover new things about who they are and who they can be in the future.
What does GSA cost students? Not a dime. GSA is free to all students selected for the program. GSA pays the entire cost of $2,800 per student through the General Assembly under the leadership of the Governor, along with donations from individuals, corporations and private foundations.
The truth is, GSA creates opportunities far beyond arts instruction. Here are some facts about GSA alumni:
98% go on to college
93% earn scholarships
GSA Alumni average total scholarship value = $59,000
GSA alumni score 6 points higher on the ACT than the national average
Graduates of the summer program are eligible for a host of scholarships and educational opportunities in all fields of study. Representatives from as many as 70 colleges and universities from across the country audition and interview graduates in the fall during GSA’s College and Career Day. Students can meet with representatives from such prestigious programs as the Savannah College of Art and Design and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, along with great programs from the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, Transylvania University, Morehead State University, Bellarmine University, Centre College, Eastern Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University, and many more. Plus, twenty colleges and universities welcome GSA alums with scholarships, just for having completed the program.
This promotional video provides an overview of the GSA Summer Program:
Hip hop dancers and Suzuki Method-trained violinists will share the stage Sunday at The Kentucky Center’s ArtsReach showcase. The annual show features community youth arts groups performing in the Kentucky Center’s Bomhard Theatre, including special guests River City Drum Corps, whose director, Ed White, has a long-standing relationship with ArtsReach.
Violin instructor Keith Cook teaches Suzuki Method through the Presbyterian Early Childhood Center, Meyzeek Community School and WESTEC, his own studio. His students are among several local groups performing Sunday.
The 22-year-old outreach education program develops free arts education for youth who otherwise don’t have access to lessons. Violin is popular; there's also demand for dance classes.
“We select different art forms we feel young people will identify with and enjoy studying,” says director Julia Youngblood. “But we also know that many students, in the public school system especially, are not able to pay for private lessons, so we want to make lessons available on a weekly basis in community center settings.”
Through ArtsReach, the Kentucky Center has spread its model throughout the state, developing more than 100 arts education initiatives in eight Kentucky communities with funding assistance from the Kentucky Arts Council.
“We choose different performing arts centers around the state and we ask them to identify community center settings they would like to work with, and we pair them up and provide some professional development and offer them some grant opportunities to program the arts in their community,” says Youngblood.
Several dance ensembles will perform on Sunday, including the Oscar Cross Step Crew, a dance ensemble based at the Oscar Cross Boys and Girls Club in Paducah. Local dance groups include dance ensembles Soljettes Dance Team and the ArtsReach dance studio, based in the Chestnut Street YMCA.
A similar dance studio at Shawnee Arts and Culture Center has grown into a competitive ensemble, Youngblood says, featuring a hybrid style of hip hop and contemporary dance instruction. The 15-member ensemble will perform four numbers at the showcase.
“That was one of our first groups we had auditions for rather than whoever was interested,” says Youngblood. “We made it a competitive process.”
Hosted by actor and arts educator Keith McGill, Sunday’s showcase is free and begins at 4 p.m. Tickets are not required.
To see more photos from The Kentucky Center's performances and statewide Education and Community Arts programs, visit us on FLICKR.
This weekend, we invite you to join us for the annual ArtsReach Performance Showcase as our Studio program students and special guests celebrate the joy of live performance:
ARTSREACH Performance Showcase Sunday, May 19, 4 p.m. The Kentucky Center, Bomhard Theater
This is a free event, no ticket purchase or RSVP is needed.
This month, as the city prepares to welcome the Dalai Lama, several special events will be held to celebrate Louisville’s status as a “Compassionate City” and Mayor Greg Fischer’s mission to make the city a friendlier, more caring place to live and visit. The Kentucky Center will be participating in, hosting, and supporting many of these events.
The Compassionate Resolution
The Kentucky Center has drafted and approved a resolution to uphold the Charter for Compassion, signifying our commitment to being a compassionate organization via such elements as empowerment, transparency, hospitality and abundance. To ensure this resolution has tangible outcomes at The Center, a staff committee has been formed (named “Centered on Compassion”) to identify the compassionate work The Center has already been doing, to monitor the progress of our "compassionate” identity, and brainstorm/execute additional ways in which we can embrace the principles of this resolution.
One Million Bones
On May 20, a version of the Washington, D.C. One Million Bones exhibit will be installed at The Kentucky Center. These bones were created by local community members, school children and participants in The Kentucky Center’s ArtsReach program along with artist-in-residence Aletia Robey as a visible petition against genocide and conflict-related crises. Initially conceived for and soon to be placed on the National Mall, the One Million Bones initiative is designed to raise awareness of the suffering and struggle of people in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burma and Somalia. Each bone that is created nets one dollar towards reconstruction efforts in war-torn communities around the globe. The exhibit will be installed on the front steps of The Kentucky Center on Monday, May 20, from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. This exhibit will be on display until 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 21.
"Youth Engaging Compassion", A Dialogue with the Dalai Lama at The Kentucky Center
On May 21, The Dalai Lama will conduct a dialogue with youth from across the Commonwealth at The Kentucky Center. These students were asked to describe what compassion means to them and develop questions for the Dalai Lama. During the dialogue, ten questions will be selected from among those submitted, and those that posed these questions will deliver them on stage. The mission of Youth Engaging Compassion (YEC) is to ignite compassion in the hearts of young people by sustaining the unquenchable fire that warms the world and the soul. The program celebrates acts of compassion so that suffering is eased and pain is lessoned on the journey toward a more compassionate world. For more information about YEC, please visit www.youthengagingcompassion.org.
Photo: Weber Globe during construction
The Weber Gallery Art Globe
As part of the Weber Gallery’s wider Striped Show exhibition, The Kentucky Center’s South Lobby will be hosting a 6-feet tall revolving globe of the earth from May 13-22. The Earth’s continents and seas are comprised completely of 1,500 colored canvas stripes painted by children, the Louisville Visual Arts Association (LVAA) Open Door classes, and people with disabilities; after which the stripes are shaped and applied to the globe by Tara Remington of LVAA. The collage of stripes showcases the favorite colors, interests and ideas of its creators. One strip features a pair of hands cradling the Earth. Others display a cross, a Star of David, various music notes, a basketball court, a ladybug, suns and smiling faces—all illustrations of what the artists believed make the world a beautiful place. Initial support for the exhibition was provided by a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support provided by Louisville Metro Arts and the Council on Development Disabilities.
The Tibetan Freedom Concert, taking place at the Brown Theatre on May 21, will feature Kentucky native and popular cellist Ben Sollee alongside other local and Tibetan musicians, including Grammy nominated world music composer and former monk Nawang Khechog. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Drepung Gomang Institute, Louisville’s Tibetan Buddhist Center and the host organization of Engaging Compassion and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Tickets available at www.kentuckycenter.org.
Please note this event is neither ticketed by The Kentucky Center nor held at our facilities.
Coors Light Iroquois Amphitheatre Summer Concert Series presents THE NATIONAL with special guest Frightened Rabbit Friday, September 13, 8 pm Iroquois Amphitheater Gates open at 6:30 pm
"If Brooklyn's sprawling music scene had a nexus, it would be The National. The dark and romantic music of this five-man band has not only made them the borough's biggest sonic export, their networking skills have turned the group into the musical equivalent of The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game." - New York Daily News
The National cemented their artistic credibility in 2010 with the highly-anticipated release of High Violet, followed by two years of non-stop touring in the US and abroad. The band's latest recording, Trouble Will Find Me, is due out mid-May.
Tickets are $35, general admission seating, fees apply.
This event goes on sale to the general public Friday, May 10, at 10 a.m. Tickets are available via www.IroquoisAmphitheater.com, by phone (877-987-6487), or in-person at the Iroquois Amphitheater Box Office (8:30 AM – 4:30 PM, M-F.)
THANK YOU to everyone who participated in KY GIVES Day! Over $330,000 was raised to support nonprofit organizations across the state. We are deeply grateful to those individuals who made a donation in support of The Kentucky Center’s Education and Community Arts programs. Thanks to your generosity, we finished in the top 30 organizations based on donations received, from among over 375 participating nonprofits. Plus we received an additional donation – a “golden ticket” prize – from the Kentucky Nonprofit Network. What a wonderful day! We will definitely put those dollars to good use serving youth and adults throughout the Commonwealth.
Originally formed more than a decade ago by a group of Indiana University students with a unique musical vision, STRAIGHT NO CHASER has emerged as a vocal music phenomenon with a massive fan base, more than 20 million views on YouTube, numerous national TV appearances, a successful recording career, and a reputation as a “must see” live act.
In the process, STRAIGHT NO CHASER is redefining where an a cappella group fits in the modern music landscape. The band’s latest recording, Under The Influence (to be released in May), features collaborations with stars like Sara Bareilles, Jason Mraz, and Dolly Parton.
"This ain't no barbershop quartet. Or an under-the-streetlamp doo-wop group. Or a men's choral group. The show opened with a romp-'em, stomp-'em rendition of Bruno Mars' Runaway Baby, followed by a '60s-era throwback to Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered, then back to the contemporary pop world of Jason Mraz's I'm Yours." - TimesUnion.com
Standard tickets go on sale to the public Tuesday, April 30 at 10 a.m. at www.kentuckycenter.org, by phone (502.584.7777) and in-person at The Kentucky Center box office counter and drive-thru. Standard ticket prices start at $20, reserved seating, fees apply. View Access Services for this performance. To insure best seating location, please reserve your services at time of ticket purchase.
