Philip Campbell's "Burning Boats" Sailing Into the Unknown Ends on January 31

ARTS LOUISVILLE
By Keith Waits

One of "100 Burning Boats" at the Garner Narrative gallery in Louisville (Ends Jan. 31)

KENTUCKY---At a glance Philip Campbell’s “100 Burning Boats” might strike one as rather ordinary objects: design lacking detail and craft lacking flourish. But the longer you examine the armada of hand-carved vessels making their way across a simple wooden flow of river, the more the deceptively simple, elemental shapes suggest deeper connotations. As...the burning vessels sail away from us into the unknown, the fire devouring the earthly remains now that they have no place among the living. Those left behind on the river bank continue to seek wisdom and understanding, but the souls of the departed have moved beyond such concerns, or so we imagine. [link]

Rice Student's National Efforts Earn Scathing Rebuttal From Head of Creationist Museum

HOUSTON PRESS | BLOG
By Casey Michel

TEXAS---It's easy to see that Zack Kopplin, a 19-year-old student at Rice University, has fast become one of the leading faces of the anti-creationist movement. He's appeared on numerous national interviews, sharing his opposition to publicly funding creationist academies. He has latched onto outspoken evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins's website. He has just been awarded a $10,000 prize as the "Troublemaker of the Year" [YouTube]. But there seems no greater signal of Kopplin's efforts and efficacy -- detailed in this week's Press cover story -- than a recent anti-Kopplin post from Ken Ham, the director of Kentucky's Creation Museum. Though the two have never spoken, Ham deemed it necessary to counter Kopplin's anti-creationist efforts by lobbing both charges and epithets toward the 19-year-old. [link]

Ark Encounter Surpasses $12 Million Milestone for Campaign

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Tahlib

Kentucky's Creation Museum team and their commercial partners have raised $12,216,716 of their $24.5 million goal to build the Ark Encounter. It's an amazing feat for a group of believers in northern Kentucky to build a a theme park built around the symbolism of Noah's Ark. A few years ago, a group of northern Kentucky capitalists and creationists led by Australian religious leader Ken Ham asked:

"When Noah built the Ark, it stood as a symbol of salvation. No doubt Noah preached that only those who went through the Ark’s door would be saved from coming judgment.What if we built the Ark (out of wood) today? Imagine the impact it could have on the world. What a powerful outreach to teach the world about God’s Word and the message of salvation."

Kentucky Arts Council Grant Applications Open to Visual, Craft and Media Artists

THE GLEANER

KENTUCKY---Applications are open for the Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship and the Emerging Artist Award programs for individual artists from the Kentucky Arts Council. Visual, craft and media artists are eligible to apply for the current cycle. The Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship program supports Kentucky artists engaged in creating artwork of high quality and recognizes creative excellence among professional Kentucky artists. Fellowships are unrestricted $7,500 awards. The Emerging Artist Award is a $1,000 unrestricted award to early career, professional Kentucky artists who demonstrate excellence and creativity in their work. The deadline to apply for both awards is March 15. [link]

For more information about the Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship or the Emerging Artist Award, contact Tamara Coffey, individual artist program director, at tamara.coffey@ky.gov or 502-564-3757, ext. 479.

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo's Online Ancient Tibetan Spiritual Art Form

KCET | PBS
Meher McArthur

Lotus by Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo

KENTUCKY---This article is the first in an ongoing series that explores the diverse range of artistic influences from Asia in the arts and culture of Southern California. Almost 20 years ago, a young Californian woman Leslie Freilich walked into the atelier of a Tibetan Buddhist artist in the Indian city of Dharamsala and fell in love with the Buddhist image that he was stitching. Now an established artist in this ancient Buddhist textile art, Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo (her artist name) has decided to pass her skills on to others. She does so from a virtual atelier, instructing students all around the world using such modern tools as pdf files, web cams and teleconferencing via Skype. [link]

In First Year, Power2Give Raised $700,000 for Regional Arts

WFPL | LOUISVILLE

KENTUCKY---The Fund for the Arts launched the online fundraising platform Power2Give in Kentucky and Southern Indiana last December. In its first year, the platform has helped raise more than $700,000 in additional funds for the region’s arts organizations. There’s a $10,000 cap on funding goals, and the Fund for the Arts recruits corporate sponsors to match funds raised for many projects. 81 nonprofit organizations in Kentucky and Southern Indiana have used the platform to pursue funding goals in the last year. Ballet spokesperson Cara Hicks says smaller, more specific projects appeal to donors who want to see fast, visible results. Hicks says donations for the studio curtains project ranged from $5 to $200, and the average donation was about $50. [link]

Kentucky's Ark Encounter Promotional Video

ARK ENCOUNTER

Arts Council Will Match Power2Give Funds Again

WFPL NEWS
By Erin Keane

KENTUCKY---The Kentucky Arts Council announced today that they will continue to match funds raised by arts organizations through the online project crowdfunding Power2Give. The council will match funds, up to $10,000 per project, in fiscal year 2013. Last fiscal year, the Council gave $50,000 in matching funds to 17 projects. This year, $100,000 will be made available to double the funds raised through the online service. [link]

American Muslims in the Arts (PHOTOS)

THE HUFFINGTON POST
By Engy Abdelkader

Portrait by Haydar Hatem

I love art, in so many of its variant forms. Of course, I am hardly alone. A number of American Muslims pursue their passion for art more actively, however, transforming their affinity into a vocation. Far from passive observers, they are artists whose works speak distinct messages -- some of spiritual intimacy, others of empowerment, education and dialogue and all embody the intersection of the American and Muslim cultural identity. [link] View: "Slide Show."

Urban Outfitters President Is Right-Wing Conservative, Donated To Rick Santorum - and sold me a T-shirt

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Tahlib 3.0

First off, as the new TAHLIB (3.0) around here, I'm a big fan of Urban Outfitters. You can ask my wife to verify the credit card balance. Secondly, I'm also a conservative who was looking forward to voting for Rick Santorum in the Kentucky Presidential primary for the Republican nomination (Yes, I am still registered back home...where my vote counts), so you can imagine my dismay when I came across this rant about both in The GLOSS:

Jesus Christ Rises Again (and Again, and again) in South America's Theme Park

THE GUARDIAN
By Emily Payne

Holyland Gift Shop

ARGENTINA - Between Buenos Aires' city airport and a gaudy water park, Tierra Santa or Holy Land: The World's Original Religious Theme Park, is half way through its first hourly Resurrection. Tierra Santa opened its holy gates in 2000, on a 17-acre estate that was once a football pitch, and now sees around 20,000 visitors each summer. It's the only one of its kind in Latin America, but has a glossier rival in the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, which opened in 2001. Currently, they're the world's only two Christian theme parks, but 2014 will see the opening of Ark Encounter, a massive $150m creation-themed park in Kentucky with a full-scale Noah's Ark. [link]

Art History Through Sci-Fi Colored Glasses

TOR COM
By Irene Gallo

Pastiche? Mash-up? The best form of flattery? Whatever you want to call it, artists have enjoyed riffing on historical paintings for ages. For some, it’s a fun way to learn and explore issues of color, composition, and application of paint by intimately copying from a master. For others, it’s a means to tap into the feelings and emotions already assoctiated with the original image, (for humour or drama.) Here’s what I found....Abbott Handerson Thayer (b. Boston, 1849-1921)often noted as a painter of angels, punked up a bit by Greg Manchess (b. Kentucky). Unrelated but interesting, Thayer invented camouflage. (Greg’s version is available as a desktop wallpaper.) [link]

Answers Really Are in Genesis, Says Creation Museum President Ken Ham

BAPTIST PRESS
By J. Gerald Harris

Answers in Genesis president Ken Ham

KENTUCKY - Ken Ham is convinced that if one wants to understand the doctrines of God's Word, Genesis is the place to start. Ham, president and founder of Answers in Genesis -- which runs the Creation Museum -- says Genesis 1-11 is foundational to the rest of the Bible. An Australian by birth, Ham moved to the U.S. in 1987 and has become one of the most in-demand Christian conference speakers and radio talk-show guests in the nation. He co-founded Answers in Genesis in 1994 with the purpose of upholding the authority of the Bible from the very first verse. The Creation Museum helps do that. Opened in 2007 near Cincinnati in northern Kentucky, the nearly five-year-old Creation Museum is a 75,000-square-foot facility that offers the visitor a high-tech, multimedia experience that shows how science affirms the Bible's account of history. The next major project for Ham and Answers in Genesis is the Ark Encounter. Plans are underway to construct a full-scale Ark according to the biblical dimensions, with the goal to use it as a modern-day illustration to help people accept the Bible as true history -- and to present the Gospel. It would open in 2014. [link]

Final Days for THE VEIL at University of Kentucky's The Art Museum

AOA NEWS

"Girls Will Be Girls" by Anita Kunz, pigment print

KENTUCKY - These are the final viewing days for "THE VEIL: Visible and Invisible Spaces" at The Art Museum of the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY. The show, which opened in July, ends on October 9.  The Veil is a visual response to the many cultural and political aspects of veils and veiling throughout human history. Artists from the US, Europe, Asia, and the Near and Middle East including Anita Kunz (above) and Helen Zughaib, 2009 A&O Prize honoree have created thirty-three powerful works that examine the veil and its stereotypes. For visitor information, visit the museums website or call (859) 257-5716.

Replica of Noah's Ark to be Built in Kentucky

LOS ANGELES TIMES

KENTUCKY - Noah's ark is coming to Kentucky. Answers in Genesis, the Christian ministry behind the Creation Museum, plans to build a life-size replica of the biblical ark by 2014. If the plan comes to fruition, the ark will be part of a new theme park called Ark Encounter that, like the Creation Museum, aims to mix a literal take on the Bible with family fun. [link]

Creation Museum Founder Comes to Indianapolis

AOA NEWS

Founder of Creation Museum, Ken Ham and one of his dinosaurs

INDIANA - Ken Ham, the man behind Kentucky's controversial Creation Museum, and the proposed 500 foot long Noah's Ark planned for 2012 is in Indianapolis today and tomorrow. Hosted by the Eastern Star Church, a historically black church rooted in the missionary baptist tradition and today dedicated to discipleship and evangelism. As one of the two featured several speakers this weekend's series, Ken Ham will share three teachings: The Relevance of Genesis in Today's Culture at 10:30 a.m.; One Race, One Blood at 6 p.m.; and How to Reach the Secularize World with the Gospel tomorrow evening at 6:30 p.m. A white, native Australian now residing near Cincinnati, Ohio, Ham is the author of numerous books on the book of Genesis, the accuracy and authority of the Bible, dinosaurs, and the destructive fruits of evolutionary thinking. Trained as a high school science teacher in Australia today he is a leading Bible apologist and considered by many to be an expert on the “races” and racism. The talks are free and open to the public and will be held at Eastern Star Church's NW campus, 5805 Cooper Road.

A&O Meetup: The Creation Museum is Dino-mighty

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ernest Disney-Britton

AOA Meetup participants by Museum's Dinosaur at Entry

I left the Creation Museum, the featured event for the August AOA Meetup in Kentucky completely knocked over by the wonder and beauty of life seen through the lens of the Garden of Eden. It's a 60,000 square foot forced-walk experience from Creation to Crucifixion, and it's done in spectacular fashion including dinosaurs in Eden, Pharaoh's temple, and Noah's Ark. The scripting, the graphics, exhibits, videos and animatronics all make a compelling case for their story and builds genuine excitement about what's around the next corner. While there is no Fine Art, nor I suspect actual fossils inside, skeptics will be delighted by the "wow" factor, and believers will want to come back again and again, for more.

Creation Museum Commercial

Noah's Ark Theme Park Attraction in Ky. Raises $3 Million

CHRISTIAN POST
By Katherine T. Phan

KENTUCKY - Developers of a biblical theme park in Kentucky said they have raised over $3 million toward the building of its main attraction, a life-sized Noah's Ark. "Just as God brought the animals to Noah by the appropriate time (Genesis 6:20), He’s providing the resources for this dynamic experience," read an announcement by Ark Encounter, which is behind the $150 million theme park of the same name. The full-size, all-wood ark will be built using donations and cost $24.5 million. Ken Ham’s Answers in Genesis, known for the popular Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., is working in partnering with Ark Encounter LLC to build the attraction. People can participate by donating $100 for a peg, $1,000 for a plank, or $5,000 for a beam to construct the ark. [link]

Louisville's Hindu Temple Dedication Ceremonies

LOUISVILLE
By Eva Lee

KENTUCKY - After a decade of serving the Hindu and Jain communities in the greater Louisville area, it’s time for a fresh start for The Hindu Temple of Kentucky. After extensive renovations, this year the Indian community is celebrating with a grand re-inauguration ceremony called “MahaKumbhabishekam” on Sunday, June 12 after a week of festivities. The celebration will begin this coming Sunday, June 5 and feature daily prayers and cultural programs to commemorate the Temple and its unique contributions to the diversity of the Louisville diaspora. [link] (also see press release)