Curate Purchase Inspire, an exciting opportunity to support Louisville’s visual arts ecosystem.
Through my years as a professional artist I have witnessed first-hand the benefits of artwork in public spaces. I have long dreamed of starting a program that would place artwork in the community while also paying artists a fair price for their work. I approached Louisville Visual Art with this idea, and together, we started the Curate Purchase Inspire program in spring of 2022. The program supports Louisville’s artists, curators, and organizations by placing original art in accessible spaces at local non-profits. With inheritance I am able to fully fund the program and have made a 10 year commitment.
The first year's exhibits were a great success and the 2023 cohort will be launching their projects in early 2024. The Call for Submissions for the 3rd cohort CPI Fellowships will be in early 2024.
About The Program
Curate, Purchase, Inspire (CPI) selects Louisville area Curatorial Fellows to assemble an exhibit of artwork created by Louisville area artists for permanent installation in a Louisville area non-profit (Curatorial Fellows must reside in Jefferson County, KY; selected artists must reside in Jefferson County or adjacent counties of KY and IN; the nonprofits must be located in Jefferson County). The artwork chosen by the curator is purchased for the exhibit by Louisville Visual Art (LVA) and becomes LVA’s property. The artwork is to remain in the public trust forever, and can never be re-sold. Additionally, the artwork cannot be removed, loaned, or destroyed by the non-profit partner or anyone else without the expressed written permission of LVA.
How It Works
Curatorial applications are accepted in the early part of the calendar year. Curators have designated a local non-profit to work with. Curators receive $10,000 as their stipend and are given a budget of $30,000 to buy artwork from local artists and to mount the show successfully. Learn more about the application process via the link below.
Curate, Purchase, Inspire In The Press
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVJP6ZgcbXo
https://www.louisvillevisualart.org/cpi
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/louisville-visual-art-launches-curatorial-and-art-purchasing-program-to-benefit-local-artists-and-non-profits-thanks-to-1-million-donation-1030777560
https://www.artebelladaily.org/artebella/tag/Curate+Purchase+Inspire
https://www.lpm.org/news/2022-04-15/four-artists-chosen-for-local-curators-program
https://www.facebook.com/LouisvilleVisualArt/photos/a.497117976830/10158322685021831/?type=3
Intellectual Property Acknowledgement for Curate, Purchase, Inspire
The program Curate, Purchase, Inspire (CPI), although administered by Louisville Visual Art (LVA), is an original concept belonging to Clare Hirn, who collaborated with LVA to realize it in practice. LVA contributed the idea of holding purchased artworks in a public trust, but all other significant and substantial aspects of CPI, including, but not limited to fair pay for artwork, employment of local curators, and partnerships with Jefferson County-based nonprofits, originate with Ms. Hirn and are her intellectual property.
