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About
the Kentucky Theater Project
Mission
The mission of Kentucky Theater Project is to provide opportunities
for local and regional emerging artists to develop an audience.
History
Built in classic art deco style in 1921, the Kentucky Theater operated
for more than 60 years as a movie house. In 1984 it became home
for a multimedia slide show that promoted Kentucky tourism, but
the show was short-lived and in 1986 the building closed. Ten years
later the City of Louisville marked the abandoned building for demolition.
A local entrepreneur bought the historic theater at auction to save
it from the wrecking ball and then turned it over to two arts advocates
who created a non-profit arts organization, called the Kentucky
Theater Project, Inc.
KTP re-opened the doors to the historic Kentucky Theater on Earth
Day 2000 to celebrate the unity of all people. Since that time,
organization founders have worked with hundreds of volunteers to
transform the Kentucky Theater into a vibrant community arts center
and art film house In its short history, Kentucky Theater Project
has been featured extensively on television, radio, newspapers and
magazines as a model for grassroots community arts development.
Purpose
All of the art forms are distinctive and call forth the different
ways of knowing oneself. True to the neighborly spirit of Louisville,
it is the purpose of Kentucky Theater Project to lay the foundation
for collaboration of individuals and organizations in the production
of street concerts and festivals, exhibits, performances and workshops
in order to broaden participation and assure whole community involvement
in the arts.
KTP
Founders
John Gage and Jeanette
McDermott founded the Kentucky Theater Project. They spent a
year developing a business plan, writing articles of incorporation
and bylaws, forming partnerships and collaborative efforts, recruiting
volunteers, developing a board of directors, finding sponsors, garnering
media attention, and raising money to file for non-profit status
with the state of Kentucky and IRS. Kentucky Theater Project was
incorporated in the commonwealth of Kentucky in September 1999 and
received its non-profit status from the IRS in June 2000. Since
receiving 501(c)(3) status, John and Jeanette have spent countless
hours forming community networks, developing programs and writing
grant proposals to sustain the organization. Today John Gage serves as the organization's Artistic Director
and is supported by a cadre of dedicated volunteers
who manage and staff programs.
4th
Street
Before suburbs began supplanting Louisville’s downtown core,
Fourth Street had been a popular community-gathering place for generations.
Fourth Street buzzed with entertainers, theatergoers, shoppers,
diners, and friendly neighbors meeting to catch up with the day’s
events. Though activity on Fourth Street has dwindled in recent
years, revitalization is on the rise with the advent of Fourth
Street Live, a complex of national entertainment chains that
will soon transform Fourth Street into Louisville’s entertainment
Mecca. The Kentucky Theater, one of only two remaining original
theaters in Louisville’s historic entertainment district, will
serve as an anchor for the local arts scene.
Staging
our Future
As Fourth Street Live burgeons into a district of national entertainment
chains, KTP will maintain vital connections to place. At the center
of this work is our Cultural
Heritage Initiative, a performing arts study and presentation
of folk and traditional music and storytelling, which brings diverse
people and groups together to foster understanding of and encourage
continuation of the enduring community-based arts in Kentucky. The
mantle of the Cultural Heritage Initiative is Kentucky Homefront,
a radio show that is produced before a live audience at Kentucky
Theater and aired weekly over public radio affiliates statewide.
for
more information, please join
our mailing list.
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