The Regional Artist Program was established to encourage artists, educators and students within the surrounding region to use Bernheim’s resources and facilities to create nature based works of art that help fulfill the mission of ‘connecting people with nature’. The program incentivizes creative partnerships between Bernheim, regional artists and local arts organizations with the intent of increasing the region’s cultural vitality.
Examples of how this program has been implemented to date include Inspired by Bernheim; a Plein air opportunity utilizing Bernheim’s natural beauty, for an exhibition sponsored by a partnership with the Cathedral Heritage Foundation and the Louisville Visual Arts Association at a national conference in downtown Louisville September 2011.
In 2012, Lexington based photographer Nori Hall created a series of images based on Bernheim throughout the four seasons for an exhibition of large-scale, hand printed photographs. Joanne Price, an academically trained printmaker from Bagdad, Kentucky was given access to Bernheim’s extensive insect collection in order to develop a new body of work in 2014. Price was awarded a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women in 2016 to complete the project and featured this work at BugFest 2017.
In 2017 and in conjunction with our annual Artist in Residence submissions, a Regional Artist Residency was created to invite selected artists of the region to retreat, reside, and connect with the natural surroundings of Bernheim. This is an exciting opportunity for regional artists to have studio space within the grounds of Bernheim and a chance to explore new work, while interacting with guests and visitors. The goal of the Regional Artist Residency is to fulfill Bernheim’s mission of ‘connecting people with nature’ through the lens of art by supporting the creative development of professional artists in the surrounding region.