Kentucky Humanities

Children's author Brittany J. Thurman continues on the Roadmap to Reading Tour! She will be in Stanford at the Lincoln County Public Library at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 9th.

KDLA Library Development Branch Kentucky Book Festival National Endowment for the Humanities The Library of Congress

Bring Prime Time Family Reading to your community!

Prime Time is a six-week reading, discussion, and storytelling program held at public libraries or schools. A scholar and storyteller conduct weekly storytelling and discussion sessions based on award-winning children's picture books. Participants are elementary age children and their families.

Applications to host Prime Time in 2025 are open.

Apply at https://www.kyhumanities.org/programs/prime-time

Volunteer - Kentucky Book Festival Want to help at this year's festival? Sign up to be a volunteer! There are plenty of roles, and we need lots of help!

From Daniel Boone and his adventures on the Kentucky frontier; William Wells Brown and his harrowing escape to freedom; to Madeline Breckinridge and her fight for women's right to vote; and Alice Lloyd and her work to educate Appalachian children Kentucky Chautauqua is the perfect enhancement to your classroom curriculum!

Check out our full lineup and book your program at https://www.kyhumanities.org/programs/chautauqua

Visit https://www.kyhumanities.org/programs/speakers-bureau/speakers-roster to check out our new Speakers Bureau lineup!

TODAY IS THE DAY!!! Grab your FREE ticket to hear Emily St John Mandel in conversation with our Director Dr. Michelle Sizemore on October 17th. Link to tickets can be found at tinyurl.com/MandelTickets 🎟

There are five Kentucky Reads: Scissors, Paper, Rock book discussions taking place in August. Make plans to join the discussion!

School is starting soon and Kentucky Chautauqua is the perfect enhancement to your curriculum!

Learn more and book your program at https://www.kyhumanities.org/programs/chautauqua

Yesterday, we were delighted to attend the Arts Connect Lexington Arts Awards! Kate Savage and her team put on a wonderful event highlighting some of the city's finest artists.

Congratulations to all of the award winners! Your work is truly inspiring!

2024 Arts Impact and Contribution Award winners:
Visual Arts — Amanda Matthews
Literary Arts — Frank X Walker
Performance Arts — Michael Johnathon
Arts Educator — Dr. Everett McCorvey
Arts Benefactor: Linda Carey and Devine Carama

The arts are alive and thriving in Lexington!

We are excited to join the celebration of Lexington's 250th anniversary in 2025!

Yesterday, we announced the recipients of the 250Lex Cultural Grants. The grant program was designed to fund projects that will be part of our year-long celebration of Lexington’s 250th anniversary in 2025. The selected organizations will produce high quality, diverse, meaningful programming for our community to enjoy. You can learn more and see the recipient list at the link below.

www.lexingtonky.gov/news/07-25-2024/mayor-announces-recipients-250lex-cultural-grants

“2025 is going to be a historic year for our city, and I am excited to have a group of talented and diverse organizations to help us bring 250Lex to life,” Mayor Linda Gorton said.

We are thrilled to receive a grant to join in the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the city of Lexington!

Thank you Mayor Linda Gorton and City of Lexington, Ky - Government! We are excited to bring this project to fruition in 2025!

🎉🎨 Our 250th celebration is next year! Today Mayor Linda Gorton announced the recipients of the 250Lex Cultural Grants, a program designed to fund projects that will be part of the year-long celebration. Congrats to the recipients! We're excited for your projects.

The grant program was designed to help Lexington residents produce high-quality, meaningful programming that focuses on tourism; broadening and diversifying participation and engagement among residents and visitors in the anniversary; showcasing Lexington’s businesses, people, cultural, or social organizations; or creating meaningful events that will continue beyond 2025.

See the list of recipients 👉 lexingtonky.gov/news/07-25-2024/mayor-announces-recipients-250lex-cultural-grants

Make plans to hear Blair Thomas Hess at the Erlanger Branch of the Kenton County Public Library this Thursday!

We are kicking off the Roadmap to Reading Library tour in Flemingsburg in August!

Children's author Brittany J. Thurman will make her first stop of the tour at the Fleming County Public Library on Thursday, August 1st at 5 p.m. to read and talk about her latest book "Forever and Always."

See you there!

KDLA Library Development Branch

Brittany J. Thurman and Crystal Wilkinson are on the road in August, traveling to 15 Kentucky libraries!

KDLA Library Development Branch

The Gaines Center has been keeping 🤫 about some pretty BIG news. That's right...on October 17th, we are welcoming bestselling author, for a conversation in the Haggin Theatre at to discuss the intersection(s) of Health and the Humanities! Tickets are, as always, FREE, and the event is open to the public, but we do expect this to be a sold-out event, so stay tuned to our social media. Registration opens August 1, and the link will be posted here! 📖

Hear more about three famous Kentuckians with Kentucky Chautauqua on Thursday, July 18th!

🔔Call for Nominations ~ Preservation Kentucky Excellence in Preservation Awards🏆
🏛To recognize exceptional accomplishments in the preservation, advocacy and interpretation of Kentucky's architectural and cultural heritage.
*Nomination form online at www.preservationkentucky.org
*Deadline to submit is Friday, August 16
*Eleven categories represent a wide range of preservation activities
*No restrictions on project completion year or timeframe of work

Photo: A.D. Campbell Building, Middlesboro, renovated by Jay and Kelly Schoffner, recipients of Preservation Kentucky's 2023 Linda Bruckheimer Excellence in Rural Preservation Award for their renovation and adaptive reuse of numerous historic buildings over the years in Downtown Middlesboro.

Employing local craftsmen, utilizing historic tax credits and developing partnerships with Middlesboro Main Street, HUD and local civic groups was the Shoffners' winning strategy for their projects, which helped spur revitalization. The Campbell Building is an excellent example of late 19th century commercial architecture and the only building downtown with an original storefront. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as a contributing resource in the Middlesboro Downtown Commercial District.

Middlesboro Main Street National Register of Historic Places - NPS Kentucky Heritage Council - SHPO The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation Vital Sites Landmark Trust Kentucky Main Street Kentucky Trust for Historic Preservation AIA Kentucky AIA Central Kentucky Chapter AIA East Kentucky Kentucky Historical Society Kentucky Tourism Kentucky Humanities Gardens to Gables KY Tourism, Arts, & Heritage Cabinet Kentucky Genealogical Society Kentucky Organization of Professional Archaeologists PreservationDirectory.com National Trust for Historic Preservation Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians - SESAH

Planning a humanities program in Kentucky?

We want to support you with a minigrant!

Public humanities programs include, but are not limited to: conferences, lectures, radio and video productions, exhibits, teacher training and development of curricular materials, interpretive programs for festivals, book discussions, and planning for future projects. These humanities programs should be directed at adults and families, not to the classroom.

Visit https://www.kyhumanities.org/programs/minigrants to learn more.

Join one of the many upcoming Kentucky Reads: Scissors, Paper Rock discussions.

Join our mail list to keep up with grant opportunities, Kentucky Humanities magazine, Kentucky Chautauqua and Speakers Bureau events taking place near you, Smithsonian traveling exhibits, the Kentucky Book Festival, and so much more.

Visit https://www.kyhumanities.org/about-us/join-mailing-list to join!

Head to West Liberty on Friday, July 12th for an evening with Kentucky Chautauqua's Daniel Boone.

Our July calendar is full of Kentucky Chautauqua, Speakers Bureau and Kentucky Reads programs!

Visit https://www.kyhumanities.org/events to find events taking place near you.

An emotional and inspiring conversation with writer Bobi Conn about her latest novel, Someplace Like Home, as well as her current and upcoming creative projects. I hope you listen to this episode of the Accents podcast on WUKY!

Bobi Conn Katerina Stoykova interviews writer Bobi Conn about her latest novel, Someplace Like Home, as well as her current and upcoming creative projects.