SoKY’s Choice: Celebration of the Arts now open at Kentucky Museum

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – For over 20 years, the Kentucky Museum has hosted their annual Celebration of the Arts, where members of the community come together to share their talents and tell stories through different mediums.

“It’s a community juried art show, ten different categories: watercolors, multimedia, photography, and so on. This year, we have 150 entries in all those different categories,” director Brent Bjorkman says.

The exhibit, now open, is a yearly collaboration that’s not only a chance to show off some talents, but also to tell the story of South Central Kentucky in the process.

“There’s people that have been painting or creating art their entire lives and maybe they’re seniors, elders of our community… and then you have people that are just coming out of school. They’re in school and are sharing their works and their talents. So this is a real safe place to be able to do that. But it also then they’re embraced by some of the folks that have been doing it a long time. So you have almost mentors in here as well,” Bjorkman says.

“Being here for 12 years and watching and getting to know all the artists and seeing them over time and what they share with the public, it’s just a wonderful show that talks about South Central Kentucky and how great and talented people are here,” he adds.

His favorite part of the exhibit, besides the pieces themselves, is seeing mentorships form among the older and younger artists.

“You become closer to them as a community. So even when you’re outside of the art show, you get to know them. You see them here, you get to know their families and their process, and you become friends. So it’s really a way to bring people together in our community that’s like no other,” Bjorkman says.

The exhibit is open for just a few weeks, so make sure to get to the Kentucky Museum before it closes.

“We opened on Saturday the 28th and it’s going to be open until April 17th. We will be closed for WKU Spring Break… so it really is about a five week show, but that should give you plenty of time to come in and see what your neighbors are doing and how creative they are… and if you’re one of the artists, you have that time to bring your family and friends,” Bjorkman says.