UK Alum Among 50 People 'Changing the South'
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 13, 2015) — University of Kentucky alumnus Theo Edmonds has been named to Southern Living magazine's "50 People Who Are Changing the South in 2015." The article lists influential people who are helping shape the region with ideas and projects that focus on community. Edmonds is one of the founders of IDEAS 40203, America's first contemporary art chamber of commerce.
As one of the founders of IDEAS 40203 in Louisville, Edmonds has helped create a chamber of commerce for creative types. The organization describes itself as being a community made up of progressive-minded individuals and businesses sharing new ideas, asking different questions and working together to accelerate sustainable, quantifiable economic and social change in Louisville and beyond. Edmonds and the organization hopes to expand on their idea that art can be a catalyst for revival in a community to other zip codes in the near future.
Edmonds is a 2013 graduate of the UK School of Arts and Visual Studies with a Master of Fine Arts. He also holds a bachelor's degree from Transylvania University, a law degree from Tulane University School of Law, and a master's degree from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. After working in administrative roles in hospitals and medical centers across the country, Edmonds decided to leave the medical professional world and focus on his artistic endeavors in New York City. It was there that he came up with the idea for his IDEAS 40203, bringing him back to Kentucky.
The UK School of Art and Visual Studies, at the UK College of Fine Arts, is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the fields of art studio, art history and visual studies, and art education.
MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu