Kentucky Arts and Culture

Trevor Jones pulled up a window blind on the second story of the Kentucky Military History Museum to reveal one of the state's most stunning views. There's the Kentucky River with little boats bobbing, downtown Frankfort, and off on a far hill, the Kentucky Capitol. It's a reminder of how impressive the Kentucky landscape can be. And the Kentucky Military History Museum is a reminder of some of the commonwealth's impressive historical artifacts.

After 35 seasons, Kentucky Repertory Theatre (formerly Horse Cave Theatre) in Hart County has turned off the lights. Jobe Publishing reported earlier this week that the board of directors voted to close the organization. Under the direction of producing artistic consultant Ken Hailey, the theater staged 14 shows in 2012, but it wasn't enough to save the theater financially or re-ignite the passion Kentucky and the theater community once held for the official state repertory theater.

What’s perhaps the most popular opera in America is performed this weekend in Lexington.  And tonight, a group that’s giving classical music a younger face entertains an audience at the Singletary Center.  With a preview of both events is Rich Copley, who covers culture for the Lexington Herald Leader.

RICHMOND — Eastern Kentucky University Center for the Arts officials will move forward with the search for a new executive director after Wednesday afternoon's resolution of a dispute over whether the university or the center's Community Operations Board would supervise that position. The argument over the memorandum of understanding between the university and the board goes back to the departure of the previous executive director in June.

Louisville native Jennifer Lawrence and Lexington native George Clooney, who grew up in Augusta, each won an Oscar at Sunday night's Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Lawrence, who is only 22, won best actress for her role in "Silver Linings Playbook." She became the second youngest woman to win best actress.

Going into tonight's Academy Awards, Louisville native Jennifer Lawrence is the favorite to win Best Actress—but no shoo-in. Lawrence, star of Silver Linings Playbook, would become the second-youngest Best Actress winner in history and the win would be another indicator—on top of the $408-million domestic gross for last year's Hunger Games, in which she also starred—that the 22-year-old is among Hollywood's elite.

From Lincoln to Lawrence, Kentuckians play a big part in this weekend’s Oscar Ceremony.  Here to preview it and other events is culture reporter Rich Copley of the Lexington Herald Leader.  In his weekly conversation with WEKU’s Charles Compton, Rich spoke first about a production by the Kentucky Ballet.

The black and white photographs span time and community: A line of white-turbanned women who await baptism in Clifton Pond. A group of girls explores Mount Brilliant Farm with their Brownie troop in 1947. The 1934 Dunbar High School boys' and girls' basketball teams hoist their trophies. Kentucky: Roots, Times and Generations at the University of Kentucky's Margaret I. King Library was set up for Black History Month, featuring photographs from UK's various collections that depict the lives of blacks around the state from the 1890s to the 1970s. The free exhibit is on display through Feb. 28.

Last November, a new documentary about raising dark-fired tobacco titled “Farming in the Black Patch" debuted in Murray. The film starts its first run on KET at 8 p.m. Central tonight, with shows scheduled through March on both KET and KET KY. The name Black Patch comes from the dark leaves of the kind of tobacco that's smoke-cured in barns and used for pipe blends, chewing, and snuff. Kate Lochte has more with the filmmaker and writer.

Gov. Steve Beshear appointed poet Frank X Walker the 2013-14  Kentucky Poet Laureate today. Walker is a native of Danville and a graduate of the University of Kentucky and Spalding University, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing.  He is well known as the originator of the term "Affrilachia," which describes Appalachian African Americans and their work and culture,  and a founder of the Affrilachian Poets, a collective of writers of color with Appalachian ties.

Even Twitter users are divided on whether or not social media has a place during live arts events. The National Endowment for the Arts is leading a conversation on Twitter (#2TweetorNot2Tweet) about mobile social media use during performances. Are so-called Tweet Seats a fun engagement with a plugged-in audience of influencers, or are they a distraction from the events on stage?

The Frazier History Museum opens the first exhibit to examine the entire history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade with artifacts from an excavated slave ship. “Spirits of the Passage” is produced in partnership with the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, which performed the underwater excavation. The 4,000 square foot exhibit contains 150 historical artifacts retrieved from the wreck, as well as African art objects on loan from the Speed Art Museum and historical documents, paintings and illustrations related to the slave trade.

The Carnegie Center for Literacy inducted six writers into its Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame during its inaugural ceremony last Thursday.  The six authors chosen were Harriette Simpson Arnow, William Wells Brown, Harry Caudill, Elizabeth Madox Roberts, James Still and Robert Penn Warren. The Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame was created “to honor the great literary history of Kentucky, and to encourage a new and growing pool of contemporary writers in the state,” Carnegie Center director Neil Chethik said at the ceremony.