Arts & Culture

UK Recognizes Partnership With Governor’s School for the Arts

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 14, 2019) For the first time ever, University of Kentucky hosted the Governor's School for the Arts (GSA) this summer welcoming 256 of the state's brightest creative young minds to campus for an intensive three-week, tuition-free summer residential program.

At Saturday’s UK football game, UK alumnus and GSA Director Nick Covault; UK alumnus Justin Williams, director of Mission Advancement for The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts; GSA drama alumnus Gus Lynch of Muhlenberg County; GSA musical theatre alumna Alyssa Wray of Boyle County; and UK College of Fine Arts Dean Mark Shanda were spotlighted on the field as the university showcased GSA’s inaugural year on campus and what is “Wildly Possible” at the University of Kentucky.

Sophomore and junior high school participants in GSA were selected from thousands of students who auditioned and applied to study in one of nine art forms including: Architecture + Design, Creative Writing, Dance, Drama, Film + Photography, Instrumental Music, Musical Theatre, Visual Art, and Vocal Music.

GSA 2019 was hosted by UK College of Fine Arts in collaboration with architecture and creative writing programs in the College of Design and College of Arts and Sciences. The students resided at Holmes Hall, the Creative Arts Living Learning Program residence hall.

A public/private partnership of The Kentucky Center, GSA is made possible with support from the state through the Governor’s Office and the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, as well as The Kentucky Center Endowment Fund, Toyota Motor Manufacturing and a multitude of corporations, parents, educators, alumni and friends of GSA.

GSA alumni are highly competitive prospective college students routinely scoring higher GPAs and ACT scores than both the state and national averages. Ninety-eight percent of GSA alumni attend college and/or receive scholarships to a higher education institution. Additionally, 30 colleges and universities offer scholarships to alumni of GSA.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2020 summer program at www.kentuckygsa.org. The deadline to apply is Jan. 10, 2020.

group of people on Kroger Field
UK College of Fine Arts Dean Mark Shanda, far right, and others involved in the Governor's School for the Arts at UK last summer, were recognized on Kroger Field during the Homecoming football game. Mark Cornelison | UK Photo.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.