About
I founded Art Share Louisville in August of 2020, during the dreadful Coronavirus pandemic. My long involvement in the arts community helped me understand and truly feel the impact of the pandemic. But, it was my conversation with former StageOne Family Theatre Education Director, Hannah Wemitt, that sparked this idea. We began to talk about how many of our colleagues and friends had lost their jobs. She then informed me that she was leaving her position at StageOne to save the jobs of others in the company. Learning this made me feel so grateful to have people like her in my life and in this community. It also made me think about all of the inspirational work/figures in this community that people don’t know about. Hannah believes that the arts are crucial for everyone to learn and instills that belief in every person she meets. We need to fund and help more organizations and people like her to continue to share that with our community.
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I have always been a big fighter for arts education and more funding for the arts and everyone should be. There are many arts students in Louisville and we all need to be heard. The student perspective is an important one and we are here to let these voices be heard. The arts community is a family. They accept you for who you are while teaching you every step of the way. Growing up in this community with people like Hannah, influenced me to be the person I am today.
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In the state of Kentucky, the arts employ 52,547 people and is responsible for $4,970,077,668 in value-added to our states economy. Nationally, this community adds $877 billion to the economy. Arts & Culture make up 4.5% of GDP which is more than Agriculture, Transportation, Construction, and Tourism. This sector also has a growth rate of almost double the rest of the economy. Donating to any arts organization may be the best bet to get America’s economy back up and running again.
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When creating this organization I took my love for my community and knowledge of the artists around me to think about what people in this city really need. The city of Louisville seems to embrace the arts well. But what we need to start doing is helping grant access to help it grow. It could be as big as Chicago or Atlanta and we need to realize what that could do for our city. Artists are the people that get to change the hearts and minds of the people around them. Art in all forms, not only has the chance to impact our economy but also the chance to help rebuild different parts of our city and better the lives of everyone in it.
This organization is here to inform and make an impact, and thats exactly what we plan to do. As artists we are only as good as the moments we are given. Opportunities are on the way for us all and I cant wait to see what that looks like in the near future. This community is very special to me and I cant wait to start opening it up to people in this city that don’t know about it. Change is coming, and I cant wait to see it.
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Founder
