LexARTS president Ame Sweetall fielded questions from Lexington Urban County Council members about how the organization manages its grants, complaints regarding slow payments, and how it tracks participation and demographics.
Earlier this year, the local arts agency came under fire after posting a photo of artists selected for a Commerce Lexington art contest — all of whom were white. While that particular group was not chosen by Lex Arts, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader, the image sparked debate.
Councilwoman Jennifer Reynolds quizzed Sweetall on the question of outreach.
"What are you all doing to really reach out to a broader scope of artists in our community? We have a ton of diverse artists that make up a really robust scene in Lexington, and we don't always see those represented in LexARTS," she said.
To that specific question, Sweetall pointed to efforts by the agency's diversity, equity, and inclusion panel to ensure attendance at more neighborhood meetings and LexARTS' partnership with the city's international hub, GlobalLex, to reach a wider pool of artists. In addition, the CEO said the group's DEI committee is now permanent and it's working to be more systematic in how it raises money for grants geared toward expanding diversity.
"I've listed on the screen the FY25 arts equity grants that have already been allocated this year for over $60,000," she said during her presentation. "A targeted campaign is in progress to increase this pool for more equity programming."
Sweetall said, while current limitations prevent LexARTS from tracking much demographic information about participation, the goal is to eventually replicate the more comprehensive system used in Louisville.
