WUKY Gallery
Make WUKY one of your Local Arts destinations. Along with WUKY's state-of-the-art studios, you can now check out our gallery of local artist(s).
Standard Gallery Hours: Monday through Friday, 10am-4pm. To schedule a viewing of the exhibit, please call (859) 257-3221.
Would you like to exhibit at the WUKY Gallery? Please submit an application.
On Display Now
Project Ricochet: The Urban Art Collective
Join us at the WUKY Gallery for our first Walk & Talk with local artists of Project Ricochet: The Urban Art Collective. Experience the WUKY Gallery on a personal tour with the artists as you walk through their exhibits of artwork and hear them talk about their works on display as well as their processes.
What: Urban Art Collective Gallery Opening at WUKY
Where: The WUKY Gallery at 2640 Spurr Rd.
When: Sunday, August 20, 2023, 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Urban Art Collective Curator: Dr. Abeni El-Amin
Urban Art Collective Gallery Engineer: Andrew Cohen
Schedule for August 20th:
- 2:30 pm: VIP Art Gallery Preview
- 3:00 pm: Urban Art Collective Gallery Open
- 4:00 pm: Urban Art Collective Performance Showcase
- 5:00 pm: Closing
Curator's Statement from Dr. Abeni El-Amin:
Project Ricochet provides a number of activities throughout the year to accomplish our goals. One of which is the Urban Art Collective. This initiative provides the landscape to promote public health issues because of humanity’s shared global experience with covid, such as mental health, depression, and miseducation about covid disease. For more information visit www.projectricochet.org.
Featured Artists:
- Andrew Cohen
- Latonia Dishueme-Bangudi
- Shakyrah Hightower
- Bryce Oquaye
- Tony Wavy
- The World Art Camp Artists
Artist’s Bios:
Andrew Cohen is a native of Lexington, Kentucky. Born in 1982. He graduated from Lafayette High School in 2001. He married his best friend, Rachael, in 2007. In 2008 he graduated from Eastern Kentucky University, with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Printmaking. He worked as a clerical assistant for several years at the University of Kentucky Hospital and Norton Hospital in Louisville, KY. He also worked as a Physical Therapist Technician at the University of Kentucky hospital, University of Kentucky Sports Medicine, and Norton Brownsboro Hospital. In 2014 he earned an Associate degree in Applied Sciences in Physical Therapist Assistance from Somerset Community College. He worked as a licensed PTA at the University of Kentucky Hospital, and various nursing homes facilities as a PRN PTA before making the decision to become a full-time artist at the end of 2019. Covid, haphazardly allowed this to become a reality. He has been developing his style of art in painting at home while being a stay-at-home father of two. His concepts are adaptive in nature. He applies textures entirely aimless or by allowing unintended outcomes, then works with the unexpected, as a direct physical approach of his works. His pieces reflect the balance and conflict between the man-made world and nature. The control humans believe they have versus the volatility of the natural world. The stability of society on this unpredictable planet. Some works are a representation of how we are expected to present ourselves and the byproduct of self-repression. He usually depicts these difficult and dark concepts with vibrant colors as a way of embellishing the antithesis. The yin to the yang. He also has other pieces which present hope for the future with unity, diversity, and open mindedness. He aspires for others to accept that we have faults and have made mistakes so we can learn from them. Let’s move forward together in spite of our differences, with the earth for a brighter and more vibrant future.
Latonia Dishueme-Bangudi was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. She is the proud mother of four children and a husband. She is a license health and life insurance agent and has made that to one of my businesses. She and her daughter Shakyrah Hightower own an Art business, My Aliluya Art, LLC.
Shakyrah Hightower is a high school student and an artist. She is from Lexington, Kentucky and has a passion for all things creative. She and her mother own an Art business, My Aliluya Art, LLC.
Bryce Oquaye is an illustrator, comic artist, and animator. His comic and graffiti styled approach have placed him within a wide range of projects. From comic to cover art for publishers like Z2 Comics, illustration for Zox and Netflix, and animation for companies like Group Nine Media and Project Ricochet. Bryce places a focus on story-based illustration and sequential work. A resident artist at the Loudoun House and the Lexington Art League, Bryce Oquaye operates a studio, MADHUNDREDS where he self publishes, creates workshops, volunteers and offers services from art direction to marketing. He also works closely as part of a collective called “Six Bomb Boards” where he had his start as a live artist. He is also the artist in residence for Project Ricochet’s African American Barbershop Initiative. He travels to exhibits and performs live art in different comic conventions and art showcases. Bryce’s goal is to help spark the next wave of illustration styles and approaches that showcase a merger of different multi-cultural influences and stylized draftsmanship.
Anthony Skinner a.k.a. Tony Wavy a.k.a. Hiphop Picasso from Monroe, MI, yet a recent transplant to Central Kentucky from Charlotte, NC. Tony Wavy is an entrepreneur, painter, musician, muralist and overall creative in every way. He has been doing art for well over 15 years. This multitalented creative specializes in contemporary portrait paintings with a mix of his own pop art style. He is highly skilled in using acrylic paint and mixed media urban design. This rising artist has been painting full time since the pandemic started fully realizing his potential and elevated on his skills. It’s also worth mentioning that he created and founded Talk Love. Which is his brand, artistry company, clothing line and inspirational platform. He took on his first mural working on a backyard fence. Since then, he has done work in music studios, restaurants, schools, nutrition clubs, clothing stores, community murals, horse trailers, museums, hookah lounges across the East coast. His work extends from portraits, to murals, to book illustrations and even graphic design. He is an amazing event curator and paint party host as well. Anthony has a passion for connecting and sharing with people through collaborative artmaking. He continues his work as a community artist.
The World Art Camp Project Ricochet, Inc. has developed Annual Arts/Cultural Programming to support the mission of “offering concrete ways in which youth can access economic opportunity through youth-driven entrepreneurial projects”.
Some of the works on display:
