Art works to bridge gaps between the many cultures of Kentucky and weave us together as a state.

Success Story—Covington’s Millennium Mosaic Project

In the year 2000, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) sponsored a Millennium Project in each of the fifty states. The project aimed to engage the nation’s finest artists in communities in every state in the country to focus the power of the arts in addressing fundamental issues of community life.

The arts work as a conduit for many sectors of a community: bringing together families, businesses, schools, government, and most importantly, people. In this sense, the arts are key to producing that “quality of life” factor that is so important in generating economic vitality and creating pride and a sense of place for any community large or small.

We, being the Covington Community Center, . . . chose the mosaic project because it was different and there was a new park being planned and we saw this park being a central gathering area and we saw that these benches would play a role in the public art but also tell the story of Covington . . . There are 5 concrete benches . . . They have scenes of Covington . . . homes of Covington and cultural institutions . . . Many people, who would have never had anything to do with the arts before, came and got involved in some level. It’s exciting to see people participate in this process and be able to go through the same creative juices that you would as an artist. They take greater ownership in it. It is their testimony about how they feel about their neighborhood or their school.

Jean St. John, Community Arts Director, Covington Community Center, Covington

You look at the communities around the world that are communities that people love to go to. They love to go to Paris, they love to go to Barcelona, or Madrid or any of the major cities around the world, and what you see in the city is the arts. You see art, you hear music. It’s vibrant with that sort of thing.

 

And that’s what I’d like to see in Lexington and Kentucky… We have a lot of artists here. It’s a very gifted state. The people are very gifted. It’s a great place to live and a great place to raise kids.

Everett McCorvey, Director of Opera, University of Kentucky