Kentucky: Community Scholars Program

Part of the Kentucky Arts Council‘s (KAC) effort to foster the state’s cultural assets is to train citizens how to document, interpret and share their community’s cultural heritage. Through its Community Scholars Program, KAC empowers local communities to preserve and celebrate Kentucky’s art and culture. KAC holds training sessions throughout the state twice a year to certify new Community Scholars, and it organizes periodic professional development opportunities for them. Community Scholars are ambassadors for Kentucky culture and for KAC and its efforts to support the arts and artists. The Kentucky Community Scholar title is recognized and honored not only by KAC, but by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, the Kentucky Oral History Commission and the Kentucky Heritage Council. To date, the program has trained more than 200 Community Scholars, who have used their skills to develop exhibits, festival presentations, on-line community guides, and interactive cell-phone walking tours that celebrate southern heritage and the people and places of Kentucky. To find out more, contact KAC Folk and Traditional Arts Program Director Mark Brown.