Skip to content

Governor’s Award in the Arts Recipients Past to 2023

shayna-douglas-THOndKhP1jY-unsplash

Kentucky Arts Council is happy to announce the past Governor’s Award in the Arts Recipients.

Milner Award Recipients

Governor Julian Carroll

Moritz Bomhard

Jon Jory

James Still

Wendell Cherry

Harriet Simpson-Arnow

Jean Ritchie

Anna L. Huddleston

Barry Bingham Sr.

Wendell E. Berry

Robert Penn Warren

Jesse Stuart

Harlowe Dean

Rude Osolni

Lucille Little

Sherry Jelsma

Marilyn Moosnick

Alun Jones

Robert Bruce French

Roy P. Peterson

Crit Luallen

Donna S. Hall

Bill & Josephine D’Amato Richardson

David A. Jones

Glema Mahr

J. Alexander Speer

Owsley Brown II

Jerry E. Baker

Al Shands

Adalin Wichman

William G. Francis

Oakley and Eva Farris

Judith Jennings

Al Smith

Chester and Msiba Ann Grundy

Ruthie Bale

Cornelia Dozier Cooper

Michael Johnathon

James M. Gifford

Kaye Savage Browning

Artist Award Recipients

Harlan Hubbard

Robert S. Whitney

Alma Lesch

Helen Starr

Barney Bright

Ray Fry

Adale O’Brien

Paul Owen

John Tuska

Warren Hammack

Ed Hamilton

Minnie Adkins

Stephen Rolfe Powell

David Livingston

George Zack

Lee Sexton

Melvin Dickinson

Moses Goldberg

Arturo Alonzo Sandoval

Elizabeth Hartwell

Jay Flippin

LaVon Van Williams Jr.

Vince DiMartino

Chilton Price

Kenneth F. von Roenn Jr.

Gray Zeitz

Laura Ross

Larnelle Harris

Linda Pigman Fifield

Guy Gerard Kemper

Roger Wilford Cooper

Tim Hall

Silas House

The Northern Kentucky Brotherhood Singers

Amanda Matthews

Business Award Recipients

Brown-Forman Corporation

South Central Bell

Ashland Oil Inc.

Philip Morris USA

Humana Inc.

Texas Gas Transmission

Martin County Coal Corporation

Liberty National Bank

Toyota Motor Manufacturing

Trans Financial Inc.

Charlie Johnson/Active Transportation

The Commercial Bank of Grayson

William & Meredith Schroeder

Bank of Louisville

Peoples Bank of Madison County

J. W. Kinzer Drilling Company

Fifth Third Bank

Community Trust Bank

Julius Friedman

Artique

Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Healthcare

John Timmons/ear X-tacy

Liquor Barn

Hilliard Lyons

Alltech

UK HealthCare Arts in HealthCare Program

21c Museum Hotel

Lexington Center/Rupp Arena

Technical Services Staff

Big Ass Solutions

Owensboro Health

The Kroger Company

First Southern National Bank

Tidball’s

Paducah Bank

Independence Bank

Community Award Recipients

Elmer Lucille Allen

Wayne Smith

Mary Yeiser/Paducah Art Guild

Bowling Green-Warren County Arts Commission

G. Caliman Coxe

Emily Wolfson

Ft. Knox Alumni Performing Arts Center

Donna Bradley-Morton

Morehead-Rowan County Arts Foundation

William T. and Judith Austin

Elizabeth Paxton

Fohs Hall Community Arts Foundation

Dorothy Brockman

John Edmonds/UPPRE Inc.

Tom Sternal

Appalshop

Jenny Wiley Theatre

Ashland Area Art Gallery

Princeton Art Guild

Cumberland County Arts Council

The Living Arts & Science Center

Roots & Heritage Festival

Billie Jean Osborne

Kenneth H. Clay

Paramount Arts Center

Saundra Kilijian

Master Musician Festival

Covington Community Center

Jarrett Boyd

Louisville Central Community Centers

Montgomery County Council for the Arts

Nana Yaa Asantewaa

Singletary Center for the Arts

The Baker-Hunt Foundation

Kentucky Book Fair

Kentucky Repertory Theatre at Horse Cave

Janice Mason Art Museum

Mayfield/Graves County Art Guild

The National Quilt Museum

Latitude Artist Community

International Bluegrass Music Museum

Market House Theatre of Paducah

Creative Diversity Studio

Centre College’s Norton Center for the Arts

Valera Brooks

Artists Collaborative Theatre

Butler County Arts Guild

Murray Art Guild

Education Award Recipients

Henrietta Roush Scott

Water Tower Arts Assoc.

Hindman Settlement School/Mike Mullins

Lila Davis Bellando

Kentucky Educational Television

Norma E. Brown

Christian County Schools

Mildred Berkey

Hancock County Schools

Westport Middle School

Jean Green

Bige Towery Sr.

Ballard High School

Judy Sizemore

VSA arts of Kentucky

Dr. Diane Roketenetz/James E. Biggs

Early Childhood Education Center

Daviess County Public Schools

Nancy Carpenter

Collaborative for Teaching & Learning

Diane Downs

Deborah M. Shannon

Vernell Bennett

Kentucky Shakespeare Festival

The Carnegie Visual & Performing Arts Center

Hazel Carver

The Russell Orchestra

Julie Ann White

Harry Pickens

Melanie Wood

School for the Creative and Performing Arts

Christina Hartke Towell

Lexington Children’s Theatre

Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning

Nathan Link

Miles Osland

RiverPark Center Inc.

CKYO MusicWorks

Paducah Symphony Orchestra

Jane Dewey

Nan Moore

Folk Heritage Award Recipients

Eddie Pennington

J. D. Crowe

Lynwood Montell

Lestel Childress

John Harrod

Marvin Finn

Lewis Lamb & Donna Lamb

Cowan Community Action Group

Kentucky Folk Art Center

Loyal Jones

Helen LaFrance Orr

Leona Waddell

Edward White

Robert Gates

Willie D. Rascoe

Hindman Dulcimer Project

Jennifer Zurick

George Beard

Shelly Zegart

Sue Massek

Maxine Ray

Government Award Recipients

Senator David Karem

Mayor Scotty Baesler

Representative Jody Richards

Congressman Romano Mazzoli

Representative Harry Moberly

Sue Larison

Louisville Regional Airport Authority

Senator Wendell Ford

Mammoth Cave National Park

Mayor Pam Miller

Secretary Ann R. Latta

Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship & Technology

City of Paducah Artist Relocation Program

City of Berea

Hindman/Knott County Community Development Initiative

Governor’s School for the Arts

Pike County Extension for Fine Arts

City of Covington

City of Maysville

Mountain Arts Center

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter

Congressman John Yarmuth

Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea

City of Danville

Paducah Convention Visitors Bureau

Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Lexington Parks & Recreation

City of Greenville

City of Somerset

City of Beaver Dam

Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission

Media Award Recipients

Barry Bernson

Cass Irvin

William Mootz

Jane S. Blake

WYMT-TV (Hazard)

WKMS Radio (Murray)

WEKU/WEKH Radio (Richmond)

Lexington Herald-Leader

Kentucky Educational Television

Public Radio Service of Western Kentucky University

WHAS-TV (Louisville)

Byron Crawford

Nick Lawrence

Arts Across Kentucky

The Lane Report

Business First of Louisville

WTCR Radio (Ashland)

Kentucky Monthly

Morehead State Public Radio

Charlie Hughes

Rich Copley

Erika Brady

Jeffrey Lee Puckett

Tom Eblen

Constance Alexander

Dave Shuffett

Paducah Life Magazine

Mountain Workshops

Bluegrass & Backroads

alDia en América

Louisville Public Media

Morgan Cook Atkinson

National Award Recipients

George C. Wolfe

Marsha Norman

Marvin & Morgan Smith

Rosemary Clooney

Christine Johnson Smith

Joe Downing

Sam Gilliam

Barbara Kingsolver

John Henry

The Judd Family – Naomi, Wynonna & Ashley

Ricky Skaggs

The Everly Brothers

Patricia Neal

Suzan-Lori Parks

George Clooney

Annie Potts

Steven Curtis Chapman

Bobbie Ann Mason

Actors Theatre of Louisville

My Morning Jacket

Sam Bush

Wendy Whelan

jahi chikwendiu

Chris Stapleton

Tom T. Hall

Martha Redbone

Ada Limón

Emerging Artist Award Recipients

Jordan Smith

Organization Award Recipients

Louisville Visual Art Association

Pioneer Award Recipients

Eben Henson

Fund for the Arts

Arthur Harvey

Phyllis George

Special Recognition

Harry Caudill

Youth Artist Award

Adrian Partridge

Copyright © 2025 Commonwealth of Kentucky. All rights reserved.