Amanda Matthews - Visual Arts Award
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Amanda Matthews is a sculptor/designer of public art and the space it inhabits. She is a writer and a public speaker and the CEO of Prometheus Art, a Design/Build Firm in Lexington, KY. A commitment to fairness, civil rights, and community is central to Amanda's work, which recognizes and honors the plight of those who are marginalized and still seeking equal rights and representation. She designs large-scale monuments and installations with emphasis on accessibility for all people. Amanda is know for her award-winning work that honors women and celebrates diversity and inclusion. She began her career as a painter and faculty member for the Louisville Visual Arts Association. She founded Wild Honeysuckle Studio in 1998, which merged with Prometheus Bronze Foundry, LLC in 2009. www.prometheusart.com/ |
Frank X Walker - Literary Arts Award
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Frank X Waker is the first African American writer to ever be named Kentucky Poet Laureate. Frank X has published eleven collections of poetry, including Turn me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers, which was awarded the 2014 NAACP Image Award for Poetry and the Black Caucus American Library Association Honor Award for Poetry. His poem Love Letta to de Worl' was commissioned for The Tatoo Project and the phrase UNLEARN FEAR AND HATE was lifted from this work and used in multiple ways, not the least of which a large bronze halo on the building on the corner of Upper and Short in Lexington which was cast by Prometheus Foundry - Amanda Matthews. Voted one of the most creative professors in the south, Walker coined the term "Affrilachia" and co-founded the Affrilachian Poets. www.frankxwalker.com/ |
Michael Johnathon - Performance Arts Award
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Originally from New York, the now Kentucky-based songwriter and tree-hugger considers the Bluegrass to be his home. Michael Johnathon is a touring songwriter, author of six published books, the screenwriter for the upcoming Caney Creek motion picture, playwright of the Walden Play, composer of the opera, Woody: For the People, organizer of the national association of front porch musicians called SongFarmers with nearly 100 active chapters across the world offering an alternative for musicians struggling with a changing music world, and the creator and host of the live audience public radio broadcast WoodSongs, Old Time Radio Hour heard on over 537 stations worldwide. On April 30, 2022 Woodsongs was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame. Michael Johnathon has just realeased his 20th album Garden of Silence. www.michaeljohnathon.com/ |
Everett McCorvey - Arts Educator Award
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Dr Everett McCorvey is a tenor soloist, conductor, and professor of voice. He is the founder and music director of the American Spiritual Ensemble, the director and executive producer of University of Kentucy Opera Theatre, president of Global Creative Connections, a production and management company for musical and theatrical events, and the artistic director of the National Chorale. Vocal excellence is a hallmark of Dr. McCorvey's work. As a educator he has given masterclasses and vocal workshops throughout the United States, Europe, South America, China, Japan and Poland. He is a teacher and vocal advisor to many singers in the profession. He has been the receipients of several awards highlighting his teaching, research and service. He remains involved in his volunteer activities working to keep the arts as part of the civic conversation. www.everettmccorvey.com/ |
Arts Benefactor Award
Linda Carey |
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Devine Carama |
photo credit: Media Collaboratory
Linda Carey grew up in Paducah in a creative family and has been a longtime performer and supporter of the arts.
She was the first female to serve on the original board of directors for the Lexington Center Corporation, when Rupp Arena was first being built, and has been an active supporter of many arts organizations in Lexington, including The Opera House, which she helped spearhead a movement to restore and to bring under the umbrella of the Lexington Center in the 1970s. |
photo credit: Media Collaboratory
Devine Carama is a nationally renowned, 2022 Emmy Award-winning hip-hop artist, author, educator, community activist and motivational speaker.
He is the director of Mayor Linda Gorton's youth gun violence reduction program, ONE Lexington, which has launched several new initiatives in its first 2 years under his direction. Devine is also the founder and director of a youth-focused non-profit organization called Believing In Forever, Inc., |
