UK celebrates American Artist Appreciation Month

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 28, 2023) — American Artist Appreciation Month is celebrated across the United States during the month of August to give a special dedication to historical and present artists, their artistic contributions and achievements. This Artist Appreciation Month, University of Kentucky Auxiliary Services is giving special recognition to the current art exhibit “A Matter of Degrees,” located at the Harris Ballroom mezzanine, which displays UK’s artistic diversity through the many techniques, talents and perspectives.

Each semester, this exhibit will feature new student works, managed by a dedicated curator intern from the UK College of Fine Arts curatorial studies program. The first exhibit was managed by an arts in healthcare intern, Sydney Mullins, who recently graduated with her master’s in curatorial studies.

This semester, the exhibit features various types of artworks where students submitted a piece that shows how they used their creativity and times where they had realizations of how powerful their artistic talent is. The students featured were asked “what led to their interest in art?”

“My interest in art was sparked by the profound belief that art has the power to encompass and communicate all aspects of life," said featured student artist Fatemeh Tajaddod. "It provides a unique avenue to express our thoughts, emotions and experiences in ways that transcend traditional forms of communication.”

Students featured in the exhibit include:

The internship and exhibits are supported and supervised by the UK HealthCare Arts in HealthCare program in partnership with the Gatton Student Center, UK College of Fine Arts and the UK School of Art and Visual Studies.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.