Increase individual artists' access to opportunities & resources.
Louisville has a thriving, internationally recognized arts & culture landscape with steadfast support for institutions. But while there are numerous arts & culture institutions – and the organizations that support them (Fund for the Arts, Arts & Culture Alliance, et al) – there is no centralized support for individual artists & creative professionals. To successfully leverage the opportunities available (and create new ones!), including those established through the new Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 plan, we’re building a unique organization to ensure artists & creative professionals have the access and the means to take advantage of what they – and our city – have to offer.
Artist: William Benton (Cat Casual); Photo: Arthur Dworin
ELEVATOR Artist Resource will:
Increase individual artists' access to opportunities & resources.
Increase our community's access to artists.
Break down disciplinary and generational silos to encourage new, interesting collaboration & networking opportunities.
Better prepare artists to articulate and apply their distinctive competencies in a variety of community & business contexts.
To provide artists with tools to be their own producers and incorporate business & entrepreneurship training into the core of our programming (production, marketing, distribution, and fundraising).
Empower our creative community to find sustainability in their careers and foster a deeper sense of connection, collaboration, and intersectional engagement within Greater Louisville - and beyond.
Provide access to professional development to establish more trained and qualified educators & teaching artists - a goal especially important as better educators produce more successful students and future community leaders.
Encourage innovation & engagement in local organizations and businesses through meaningful collaborations & projects with artists, and through the development of artists & creative professionals already on their teams.
Drive economic development through increased investment in creative community & business projects, arts commerce, as well as talent attraction & retention.
Help our community achieve broader goals as outlined in Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 and other plans - through art.
ELEVATOR’s mission and vision have been developed and refined through the work of a diverse and committed group of artists and creative professionals that serve as our volunteer board.
Managing Director, Commonwealth Theatre Center; Immediate Past Chair & Impact Committee Co-Chair, Arts & Culture Alliance (ACA) Board of Directors; Cultivation Committee Co-Chair, Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 Steering Committee
visual art teacher, Ballard High School; visual artist
actor; arts educator; stand-up comedian
freelance arts & culture journalist; actor; playwright; founding member Derby City Playwrights
musician; writer; operator of multi-arts venue
Vice President, Mightily; Owner/Founder, Aether; brand strategist; entrepreneur
Manager, Preston Arts Center; visual artist; instructor; demonstrator; introducer
dance instructor & choreographer; Director, Genesis Arts KY
filmmaker; Assistant Professor, Film & Film Production, University of Louisville
English teacher, Ballard High School
Creative Director, Kertis Creative; photographer; writer
entrepreneur; visual artist; musician; songwriter
poet; painter; sculptor; printmaker; teacher; curator; Art Director at OPEN Community Arts Center
Brand Director, Jack Daniel’s, Brown-Forman Corporation
Director, ELEVATOR Artist Resource; visual artist
Are you an artist? A volunteer board of diverse artists & creative professionals established guiding principles and identified possible programs for ELEVATOR, but we need artists of all disciplines from across Greater Louisville to help us hone & prioritize them. Please complete this 5-minute survey to tell us what YOU want & need.