A $75,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts will help compensate artists for works placed in Lexington’s soon-to-be mixed use project in the city’s East End. The MET, which is the name given to the 76,000 square foot facility nearing completion at Midland and East Third Street, is expected to open before fall.
Mark Johnson is with Art Incorporated Kentucky, an artist incubator with Community Ventures. He said the NEA award is not a major surprise, but it shows the well-known arts organization sees merit in the MET. “We knew that this was a great project, especially in the times that we’re in now. The work and the history of the East End, it really does need to be preserved,” said Johnson.
Community Ventures, who’s been a community economic development entity for almost four decades, is providing matching funds for marketing and operation. The Blue Grass Community Foundation is also participating in the project.?
Johnson noted the first floor of the MET will feature a restaurant and art gallery with such things as poems, photographs, and a wall hanging. He added the second and third floors will have affordable housing units.
ArtInc Kentucky's Mark Johnson explains more about the MET project:
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