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Craft And Contemporary Art Will Meet At 'KMAC Triennial'

The newly renovated Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft
The newly renovated Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft

The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft (KMAC) this week announced the 20 artists to be included in its inaugural KMAC Triennial. The artists come from incredibly diverse backgrounds and explore a wide variety of media.

Here is the full list:

Philis Alvic - Lexington

Jimmy Angelina - Louisville, KY

Mary Carothers - Louisville, KY

Andrew Cozzens - Louisville, KY

Rachel Frank - Brooklyn, NY

Vinhay Keo - Van Nuys, CA

Lori Larusso - Lexington, KY

Sarah Lasley - Bloomington, IN

Bette Levy - Louisville, KY

Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido - Morehead, KY

John Harlan Norris - Lexington, KY

Kristin Richards - Lexington, KY

Aaron Rosenblum - Louisville, KY

Harry Sanchez Jr. - Dayton, KY

Vian Sora - Louisville, KY

Hunter Stamps - Lexington, KY

Sean Starowitz - Bloomington, IN

Kiptoo Tarus - Lexington, KY

Melissa Vandenburg - Richmond, KY

Casey James Wilson - Lexington, KY

Submissions for the KMAC Triennial opened in December 2018, closed in February, and were then reviewed by a panel of arts professionals from across the state.  

The panel included Joey Yates of KMAC; Alice Gray Stites, who is the museum director of 21C; Matt Distel, exhibitions director at the Carnegie in Covington; and Emily Elizabeth Goodman, professor of art history at Transylvania University in Lexington.

“The level of interest shown for the KMAC Triennial was phenomenal," said Yates, in an emailed statement. "It was challenging to narrow down the list of submissions to the few that we selected. Our state has such an incredibly talented community of artists.”

Now that artists have been chosen, KMAC will visit artist studios throughout the spring, selecting and developing works for the show.

This Triennial is part of KMAC’s slow rebranding. Initially started as an organization dedicated solely to exhibiting traditional craft — like quilting and woodwork — the museum is now exploring what craft looks like in the 21st century, and where it intersects with contemporary art.  

In a 2018 interview, KMAC director Aldy Milliken said the museum now focuses on “craft” as a verb.

“The contemporary art world has come back around to new materialism, or materials that explore labor, process,” Milliken said. “Then the content of that is derived out of materiality.”

The KMAC Triennial will open in August.