The Kentucky Arts Council will host a convening for arts organizations across the Commonwealth focusing on new concepts and methods to increase support for the arts in Kentucky. The seminar, Revealing the Public Value of the Arts in Kentucky, led by Jerry Yoshitomi, one of the country’s foremost cultural facilitators and Gerri Combs, Executive Director of the Kentucky Arts Council, will begin at 9 a.m. EDT, Thursday, July 8, 2004 in Todd Hall at the Kentucky Center, 501 West Main Street, Louisville, Ky. Although special invitations have been issued to Arts Council operational support grantees, all Kentucky arts and cultural organizations and public officials are welcome to attend this free seminar. Register at http://artscouncil.ky.gov/forms/pv2004.htm.

Over the past three years, the Kentucky Arts Council has been engaged in research and study with twelve other state arts agencies under guidance from the Wallace Foundation and the Hauser Center at Harvard University, to develop strategies to increase cultural participation and reveal the public value of the arts. “When we first started talking about public value and public funding for the arts, we thought the task was to create public value,” said Arts Council director Gerri Combs. “But, as we looked closer at the national research and scanned Kentucky’s communities for arts-related activity, we realized that the public value for the arts already exists. Now, it is just a matter of how to reveal that value in ways that will convince more people to support and participate in the arts.” Revealing the Public Value of the Arts in Kentucky is part of the Kentucky START Initiative funded by the Wallace Foundation to increase cultural participation. Funding for this seminar has been provided by The Wallace Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Gerald D. (Jerry) Yoshitomi works with state, regional and national presenting and arts service organizations to increase participation in the arts and the public value of the arts, artists and arts organizations. Mr. Yoshitomi has extensive experience in the areas of leadership in changing environments, creativity and cultural trade. Recent support for his work has come from private foundations including the Wallace Foundation, the Knight Foundation, the Haas Funds and the California Community Foundation. Mr. Yoshitomi is currently a Senior Advisor to the Japan-United States Cultural Trade Network and has served as Chair of the National Task Force on Presenting and Touring the Performing Arts.

The Wallace Foundation is an independent private foundation established by DeWitt and Lila Acheson Wallace, the founders of The Reader’s Digest Association whose mission is to enable institutions to expand learning and enrichment opportunities for all people.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts - both new and established-bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Endowment is the largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.

The Kentucky Arts Council is a state agency in the Commerce Cabinet. Working in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arts Council invests in programs that develop vibrant communities, provide lifelong education in the arts and support arts participation. Every $1 in grant funds awarded by the Kentucky Arts Council helps grantees secure $20 in earned income and matching funds from individuals, philanthropic sources and other levels of government.