Thanks to a grant, Lexington’s newest artist village will expand
An artist village in Lexington’s East End has received a grant to help more artists afford a new home.
Community Ventures’ Art Inc. started the Artists’ Village in the East End to help artists afford permanent housing. The first house was completed in 2019 for Frank X Walker, an author, visual artist and the state’s first Black poet laureate.
The $15,000 U.S. Bank grant will be leveraged with other funds for down-payment support, lessening monthly mortgage payments, Art Inc. officials said.
The community now includes five homes in the Powell Street area near Midland Avenue and Third Streets, located near Community Ventures’ the MET retail and apartment complex on the corner of Third Street and Midland Avenue.
Each single-family floor plan in the Artists’ Village includes an attached art studio opening directly onto a public art park.
Two additional homes are in the construction and planning phases.
Artists’ Village residents include Art Inc. Kentucky President Mark Johnson, an award-winning glass artist.
“We extend our deepest thanks to the U.S. Bank Foundation for its grant supporting homeownership for artists in Lexington’s gem—the historic East End,” said Johnson. “These funds will help leverage additional resources, compounding the impact—revitalizing our community and changing the lives of artists and their families. It takes a village to build a village, and we’re grateful to be building ours with supporters like the U.S. Bank Foundation.”
For more information on the Artists’ Village and how to apply for funding, go to cvky.org/homeownership-support.
