Happy new year from the Kentucky Arts Council! It's off to a fantastic start with Kentucky Arts Day on Jan. 10! We want to thank our friends at Kentuckians for the Arts – Lori Meadows and Teresa Day – for organizing this arts advocacy event. More than 100 people attended the program in the Capitol Rotunda, which featured the unveiling of a special license plate celebrating the arts. This plate is now available in county clerk offices across the state, and a portion of the license plate fee will go to Kentuckians for the Arts to help that organization do the incredible work it does at advocating and showing others how to advocate for the arts.

The main goal of Kentucky Arts Day was to put members of Kentucky’s diverse arts community in front of state legislators, and we thank those folks who made appointments to meet with their district representatives and senators to talk about the importance of public funding for the arts in Kentucky. And, of course, we thank the legislators who took the time to meet with constituents, specifically Reps. Beverly Chester-Burton (Jefferson County) and Randy Bridges (McCracken County), who spoke to attendees in the Rotunda. Thanks, also to Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Lindy Casebier for his participation in the program. We hope you’ll take the time to contact these policymakers and thank them for giving their time in support of the arts.

An important topic coming up for students and parents is the arts standards in public education. To learn more about those and how you can have input into those standards, listen to the latest episode of KyArtsCast. Cynthia Warner, the arts council’s arts education director, talks with Jessica Greene of the Kentucky Department of Education about what those standards are and what input the department needs from the public. Download the latest episode for this informative chat between Cynthia and Jessica.

It's a few months away, but it’ll be here before you know it. Make plans to join us March 9-10 for the public days of The Kentucky Crafted Market at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena. In addition to seeing the work of some of the best visual and craft artists in Kentucky, you can hear live music from the Market Stage, take part in hands-on activities and learn more about new and time-honored folk traditions in Kentucky. We’ll see you there.

Our regional partners at South Arts are offering a free series of four webinars on a variety of topics, including tax tips for creatives, burnout, essential social media tips and a forum on dance in the south. To register and learn more, visit the South Arts website.

Finally, join me in welcoming Sarah M. Schmitt as our new executive staff advisor. She didn’t have to move far, as she was already the arts council's arts organization and access director. Previously, she served as the oral history administrator for the Kentucky Oral History Commission, the community arts and access director for the Kentucky Arts Council, and as a folklife specialist for the Kentucky Folklife Program. She is a founding steering committee member of the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange. Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and history and a master’s degree in folk studies. She lives in Lexington with her son and chihuahua and enjoys reading, exploring Kentucky, and drinking coffee in new and interesting places. As the arts council’s executive staff advisor, Sarah will tell the story of the valuable role that the arts play in the commonwealth and employ strategies that expand participation in, access to, and inclusion in the arts for all Kentuckians. If these career goals sound like they were stolen directly from a strategic plan, it’s because they are. The primary purpose of an executive staff advisor is implementing administrative policies in fulfillment of the strategic plan. Sarah will continue to administer the Kentucky Arts Partnership grant in the interim.