Governor's School for the Arts to Return to In-person Classes at UK This Summer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 17, 2021) — Kentucky Performing Arts has announced that the statewide arts education program for high school students, the Governor’s School for the Arts, will return to in-person and traditional instruction at the University of Kentucky this summer. One of many events and educational programs impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic that started in early 2020, last summer’s Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts was shifted to a successful online and nontraditional instruction.
The three week, arts-immersive program for rising high school sophomores and juniors across the state has for 34 years traditionally gathered hundreds of students on a Kentucky college campus to learn, collaborate and study various art forms. Students, educators and administrators have often noted the peer-support learning element of the program, with attendees connecting with like-minded peers and often leaving with new lifelong friends afterward.
This summer, students will once again be able to learn in-person, with numerous safety measures and protocols in place. Kentucky Performing Arts is working closely with the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet and the University of Kentucky to ensure students are safe, with numerous safety measures in place. Safety protocols will include mask-wearing, social distancing, reduced room capacities, and omission of public-facing performances.
The tuition-free three-week program will take place June 27–July 17, 2021. Student-artists from 43 counties will be immersed in a rigorous schedule of daily online seminars, creative projects, master classes, and lectures. Instruction will be offered in nine disciplines: Architecture+Design, Creative Writing, Dance, Drama, Film+Photography, Instrumental Music, Musical Theatre, Visual Art and Vocal Music.
ABOUT GSA
GSA is a public/private partnership inaugurated in 1987 by The Kentucky Center (now Kentucky Performing Arts), the Commonwealth of Kentucky and numerous private supporters. Today, the vital funding required to make GSA a reality is provided by the state through the leadership of the Governor’s Office and the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, as well as The Kentucky Center Endowment Fund, Toyota Motor Manufacturing and more than 300 corporations, parents, educators, alumni and friends of GSA.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS
The University of Kentucky College of Fine Arts offers Kentucky’s broadest collection of visual and performing arts academic programs with four academic units. The college is also home to the Singletary Center for the Arts and the UK Art Museum. The College of Fine Arts declares that the arts are essential to the life of the individual and the community. We express our commitment to the arts through our dedication to teaching, scholarly research, artistic experimentation, performance, and exhibition.
ABOUT KENTUCKY PERFORMING ARTS
The mission of Kentucky Performing Arts is to build lifelong relationships with the arts. As an integral member of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Cabinet, Kentucky Performing Arts, along with the other agencies, seeks to preserve and promote the history, heritage and arts of the Commonwealth.
Three locations comprise the family of venues under The Kentucky Performing Arts umbrella:
The Kentucky Center is located at 501 West Main Street, Louisville, KY 40202
The Brown Theatre is located at 315 West Broadway, Louisville, KY 40202
Old Forester’s Paristown Hall is located at 724 Brent Street, Louisville KY 40204
To learn more, visit KentuckyPerformingArts.org and KentuckyGSA.org
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.