CivicLex, city seek Civic Artist in Residence applications

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – CivicLex and the City of Lexington are announcing the launch of applications for Lexington’s inaugural Civic Artist Residency cohort.

This new program will place three local artists into three departments of the City government for a fresh infusion of creative ideas. They will reimagine how departments engage with the public, communicate with each other, and perform their work.

“Our local artists are tremendous resources,” Mayor Linda Gorton said. “We look forward to hearing their ideas and sharing their creativity with our employees and the city at-large. Thanks to CivicLex and to the Blue Grass Community Foundation for their partnership in this innovative project.”

The CAIR program, partially funded by an Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, is a joint effort between the City of Lexington, CivicLex, and the Blue Grass Community Foundation. “Now, more than ever, it’s clear we need to focus on bringing more residents into the process of governmental decision making – especially communities that have historically been excluded,” said Richard Young, Executive Director of CivicLex. “We’re building this project to increase equity and representation for all Lexingtonians in decision making processes, find creative solutions to problems or areas where City employees feel stuck, improve communication, and celebrate the underappreciated work City employees do.”

CivicLex and the City of Lexington are encouraging Fayette County-based artists, designers, makers, and more of all levels to apply. Artists will work for just over a year -from June 2021 to July 2022- in the departments of Finance, Environmental Quality & Public Works, and Social Services.

They will each be paid $15,000 and spend 10-20 hours per week working alongside city employees. The artist cohort will also have access to the program’s governing Advisory Group of over 20 Fayette County artists, government workers, activists, and scholars for support.

Civic Artist in Residence programs are an emerging strategy that utilizes creativity to infuse creative, new approaches to how government operates. Similar programs have been launched in cities across the country, including Philadelphia and Austin, as well as in very small rural communities.

The Lexington team designing the program is working with Ashley Hanson with the Department of Public Transformation, a past Civic Artist in Residence for St. Paul, Minnesota, who specializes in designing these programs for smaller communities.

The application is live at civiclex.org/civic-artist