The work of an award-winning photojournalist who has traveled the world and a wide-ranging exhibit of art depicting the horse throughout American history will be showcased in The Art Museum at the University of Kentucky's 2009-10 season.

Lexington native Jahi Chikwendiu, a former Herald-Leader photographer who now works for The Washington Post, is the featured artist in the first of the season's Robert C. May Photography Series exhibits. Chikwendiu, who was named the 2008 photographer of the year by the White House News Photographers Association, will show his work at the museum, inside the Singletary Center for the Arts, from Oct. 3 to Nov. 1. He will deliver a lecture at 4 p.m. Oct. 23.

Other May Series exhibits are: Mike Smith, who photographs rural Tennessee (exhibit Nov. 7 to Dec. 13, lecture 4 p.m. Nov. 13); Israeli-born Lili Almog, who focuses on women in isolated areas (exhibit Jan. 5 to Feb. 28, lecture 4 p.m. Jan. 29); and Sarah Hoskins, a Chicagoan who has photographed African-American hamlets in Central Kentucky (exhibit March 6 to April 11, lecture 4 p.m. March 26).

The rest of the season:

Kentucky Folk: Art from the UK HealthCare Collection, through Sept. 20. The museum's first exhibit of Kentucky folk art.

Gifted Hands: Ceramic Work by Cliff Lee, through Oct. 3. A show of works by the internationally known porcelain artist, who once was a doctor. Lee will give a free public lecture at 6 p.m. Sept. 3 at the museum.

Exploring the American West: Karl Bodmer and George Catlin, Oct. 11 to Dec. 20. A stunning depiction of Native American life in the pre-settlement west of the mid-19th century.

Bluegrass Collects: The New English Arts Club, Jan. 24-April 11. Contemporary paintings from the club, founded by John Singer Sargent and other artists in 1886 to promote British realism.

Andre Pater Retrospective, June 27-Oct. 10. Poland-born Pater, a resident of Lexington since 1988, is best known for his spirited oil paintings and lush pastels rooted deeply in the American racing industry.

Hoofbeats and Heartbeats: The Horse in American Art, Aug. 22-Nov. 21. Coinciding with the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, more than 50 works of painting and sculpture in the first significant exhibition to critically examine the role of the horse in American art and culture from the Revolutionary War to present day.

For more information, contact the museum at (859) 257-5716 or go to www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum.