Herald-Leader culture writer Rich Copley has received the Media Award from the 2010 Governor's Awards in the Arts, the state's highest honor in the arts.
He joins winners in eight other categories, including a pioneer in glass art and a beloved television, film and stage actress.
The Media Award honors a Kentucky journalist or media organization that has outstanding commitment to bringing the arts to the attention of the public.
Copley has been a reporter at the Herald-Leader since 1998. A native of Virginia Beach, Va., he was a 2007 fellow at the National Endowment for the Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera at Columbia University in New York, and his blog, Copious Notes, one of Kentucky.com/LexGo.com's first blogs, was a 2008 EPpy Award nominee for best entertainment blog. Before coming to Lexington, Copley, 42, was a reporter at the Athens Banner-Herald and the Augusta Chronicle, both in Georgia. He lives in Lexington with his wife, Kate, and two children, Caroline and Chris.
Other award winners are:
Milner Award: Al Shands of Crestwood, an arts patron, community leader, philanthropist and a founder of the Kentucky Art and Craft Foundation and the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft.
Artist Award: Stephen Rolfe Powell of Danville, an award-winning, world-renowned glass artist and professor at Centre College.
Business Award: J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons LLC, a generous and long-time patron of virtually every arts organization in the region.
Community Arts Award: Mayfield/Graves County Art Guild, a community cultural organization in far Western Kentucky.
Education Award: Melanie Wood of Louisville, who retired after 34 years as a band and choral director in Kentucky public schools.
Folk Heritage Award: Loyal Jones of Berea, a founding director of the Appalachian Center at Berea College from 1970 to 1993, creator of the Celebration of Traditional Music in Berea, an avid documentarian and field recorder of early Kentucky music, and a devoted lecturer, teacher and writer of numerous books.
Government Award: Mountain Arts Center, which is organized and operated as an entity of the city of Prestonsburg.
National Award: Annie Potts, a native of Franklin best known for her role on the television show Designing Women.
