THE ART SHOW THAT GIVES BACK

The 66th Annual St. James Court Art Show | September 30 - October 2, 2022

Kentucky’s favorite autumn tradition, the St. James Court Art Show, is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 art shows in the nation. Annually attracting about 600 artists and more than 250,000 visitors to Old Louisville, people come from near and far to purchase one-of-a-kind handcrafted art directly from the artists who created them. What most people don’t know is the positive impact the St. James Court Art Show has on the community.

What originally began as a way to fund the neighborhood fountain’s restoration has grown to help so many more in the Louisville area. All eyes are on the art during the first weekend in October. As a result, the show generates a boost for artists, nonprofits, schools, churches and more.

One of the top priorities is neighborhood philanthropy and preservation, but several other organizations benefit from the art show, including: the Asia Institute Crane House; Cabbage Patch Settlement House; Cochran Elementary School; Conrad Caldwell House Museum; Actors Theater of Louisville; Filson Historical Society; Garvin Gate Blues Festival; Kentucky Shakespeare Festival; Kling Center; Old Louisville Neighborhood Council; Presentation Academy; and SpringFest.

Here’s one example of how the art show supports local organizations: When you pay to park at Cochran Elementary School, Dupont Manual High School, Youth Performing Arts School, Noe Middle School, or the Louisville Woman’s Club, your money is directly benefiting that school or nonprofit.

SUPPORTING FUTURE ARTISTS

Each year, visitors to St. James Court Art Show are not only supporting the participating artists but also the next generation of artists. This year, $45,000 in scholarships will be awarded to area high school students. Several individual scholarships are as much as $15,000. This is the 50th year since the first scholarship was awarded by the St. James Court Association, and the program continues to grow to help young adults achieve their goals in the arts.

The University of Louisville hosts the competition and Gallery Showing, offering high school students a chance at a scholarship to attend the university and to show their talents to a multitude of people. Each student submits at least four pieces for their portfolio, and they can be a combination of 2-D, mixed media, and 3-D works.

INTEGRATING THE PERFORMING ARTS

Beyond the financial support the St. James Court Art Show provides, the show’s community partnerships continue to expand by collaborating with several other art and community organizations to bring something new this year.

Branching out to the performing arts world, the St. James Court Art Show is partnering with Fund for the Arts, the Trager Family Jewish Community Center Centerstage, and Kentucky Shakespeare. The different forms of art will come together as performers sashay their way through the art show.

“The St. James Court Art Show is more than just a show, and we couldn’t be more thrilled about our new community partnerships this year,” says Executive Director Howard Rosenberg. “We are a show with 17 fine art mediums, and adding performing art that promotes our talented community performers just made sense.”

Sarah Battle from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is also partnering with the art show to develop a series of lectures about the influence of local African American artists on the arts in Louisville in the ’50s and ’60s. Battle is working with Fari Nzinga and Toya Northington of the Speed Museum to create programming recentering the legacy of the Gallery Enterprises to ground the history of the Louisville art scene during the years bookending the first St. James Court Art Shows.

This programming offers a unique chance to relearn this context of Louisville modern art by hearing from artists who shaped, or were directly shaped by, the Gallery Enterprises and the midcentury Black art scene in Louisville.

“The same year Malcolm Bird and the St. James Court Association debuted the first St. James Court Art Show, the art collective, Gallery Enterprises, formed across town,” says Battle. “The Gallery Enterprises included emerging luminaries Sam Gilliam, Bob Thompson, Robert Douglas, G. Caliman Coxe, and Kenneth Victor Young. Between 1957 and 1961, the collective offered artists of color the opportunity to exhibit their art in Louisville. The collective's influence has not been properly acknowledged, and consequently, over time, the narrative on this period in American art has overlooked their contributions.” This weekend of programming is made possible thanks to the St. James Court Art Show and the oral history project, “Painting a Legacy,” supported by the Kentucky Oral History Commission, Oral History Center at the University of Louisville, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art.

A SENSE OF HISTORY

This year marks the 66th year of the St. James Court Art Show, which makes it one of the longest-running art shows of its kind in the country. Many of the artists and visitors travel from all over the country to participate and attend. For Kentucky artists, the historic show has created a sense of place where they can return year after year to share their passions with other art enthusiasts. Each section of the show averages about 10 to 40 Kentucky native artists ranging in mediums and artistic style.

“As a native Kentuckian and having grown up in and around the St. James Court Art Show, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for this magical place,” says Mark D. Bird, the artist commissioned for the show’s print series, “A Sense of Place; a collection of fine art prints.”

“As a senior artist now, and with innate curiosity, I wanted to know why artists return to this show, year after year,” Bird continues. ”So, I went about seeking answers. I asked artists from Kentucky and artists from across the U.S., ‘Why do you come to St. James?’ The answers were always the same: ‘We come here because this beautiful place nurtures our souls as artists.’ It doesn’t get any clearer than that. This stunningly beautiful place is unlike any other across the nation and certainly unlike any other as a venue for an art show.”

The third edition of Bird’s series will tell the historic preservation success story of the iconic St. James Court Fountain, when neighbors came together as guardians of the past and preservers of the future. The Old Louisville Neighborhood has always been community-driven, and the dedication to keeping art alive is what attracts artists and visitors alike.

Make plans to attend the 2022 St. James Court Art Show from Friday, September 30, through Sunday, October 2. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Visit stjamescourtartshow.com for more information.

EVENTS CALENDAR

Audience is your connection to the performing arts and entertainment in Louisville. Below are some of the events we are looking forward to in the coming months and we hope you enjoy them all!

SEPTEMBER

15-18

Bourbon & Beyond Highland Festival Grounds at Kentucky Expo Center BourbonandBeyond.com

17

Petty Nicks — The Iconic Tribute to Tom Petty & Stevie Nicks 8PM, Bomhard Theater kentuckyperformingarts.org

17

Louisville Orchestra Opening Night Swing, Swagger & Sway 7:30PM, The Kentucky Center louisvilleorchestra.org

18

Southern Soul Music Festival 4PM, The Kentucky Center kentuckyperformingarts.org

22-25

Louder Than Life Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Expo Center louderthanlifefestival.org

Sept. 23- Oct. 2

Kentucky Opera La bohéme Brown Theatre kyopera.org

OCTOBER

5

Judah & The Lion – Happy Again Tour 8PM, Old Forester’s Paristown Hall kentuckyperformingarts.org

9

Kelly Ripa: Live Wire w/ special guest Justin Sylvester 2PM, The Kentucky Center kentuckyperformingarts.org

14

Ani DiFranco 8PM, Headliners Music Hall productionsimple.com

15

Louisville Orchestra Teddy Talks Schumann 7:30PM, The Kentucky Center louisvilleorchestra.org

15

Louisville Orchestra Anjelah Johnson-Reyes - Who Do I Think I Am? Tour 8PM, The Brown Theatre kentuckyperformingarts.org

18-23

PNC Broadway in Louisville Fiddler on the Roof The Kentucky Center kentuckyperformingarts.org 26

Marcus Mumford 8PM, The Brown Theatre kentuckyperformingarts.org

27

Straight No Chaser - The 25th Anniversary Celebration 7:30PM, The Kentucky Center kentuckyperformingarts.org

27

An Evening with Lindsey Buckingham 7:30PM, The Brown Theatre kentuckyperformingarts.org

29

My Morning Jacket 7PM, KFC YUM! Center productionsimple.com

30

Louisville Orchestra Disney in Concert: Magical Music from the Movies 3PM, The Kentucky Center louisvilleorchestra.org

For more of our preferred arts and entertainment recommendations, visit Audience502.com/audience-events