2021
LVA HONORS
HONOREES
John Begley
Legacy Award
John Begley served as director of the Hite Galleries at the University of Louisville and adjunct associate professor of art at the University of Louisville, where he coordinates the Hite’s master's program concentration in critical and curatorial studies. He was previously executive director of the Louisville Visual Art Association, which is devoted to supporting contemporary art and art education. Begley has served as a panelist and juror for such arts organizations and agencies as the Institute of Museum and Library Services,the Kentucky Arts Council, the Miami Valley Arts Alliance, the Florida Division of Cultural Arts, the Evansville Museum of Arts and Science, Eastern Kentucky University and Western Kentucky University. He also serves on numerous community committees such as the Standiford Art Foundation at the Louisville International Airport, Metro Louisville's Downtown Design Review Overlay (DDRO) Committee and the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Public Amenities. His areas of expertise include advocacy, audience development and building participation in the arts, organizational development and strategic planning. In addition to his curatorial activities, he regularly exhibits his own artwork on the local, regional and national levels.
Kevin Ashford
Visual Art Educator Award
Photo Credit: Abdul Sharif
After graduating from Kentucky State University with a BA in Art Education, Kevin Ashford attend and received his Master’s in Education from Spalding University after settling in Louisville, Kentucky. He has taught art at Crosby Middle School for twenty one years and for Louisville Visual Art (LVA) for the last twelve years. Mr. Ashford is best known for his distinct hand painted surrealistic floral paintings in watercolor. These works and others can be seen on his website, blessed-artist.com.
“Growing up as a black male, I was discouraged from pursing and developing my gift. I remember being told drawing would not put bread on the table. My God given talent was put on a shelf until an educator and a counselor my senior year empowered me. Now I am blessed to be able to feed my family and share my love, my passion, my gift through teaching,” Kevin Ashford aka the BLESSED ARTIST.
Jaylin Stewart
Emerging Artist Award
Jaylin Stewart is an artist from West Louisville who has dedicated her talents to victims of violence & the community by creating therapeutic artwork. Through her non-profit company, Adah School of Art she provides visual art instruction to children in the West End. Although primarily a painter, her three-dimensional installation, God Rest America, was at Scheherazade Gallery in 2019. In 2020 she kept busy executing chalk sidewalk murals in tribute to health care workers, created an indoor mural at the KMAC Museum, and created an iconic portrait of Breonna Taylor that was projected on Metro Hall during the protests in downtown Louisville.
The LEE Initiative: Edward Lee & Lindsey Ofcacek
Community Service Award
Chef Lee was the recipient of the 2019 James Beard Foundation Award for Writing for his book Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting Pot Cuisine. Lee has also been a six-time finalist for the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast. In 2018, Food & Wine Magazine named 610 Magnolia one of the country’s most important restaurants of the past 40 years. The Michelin Guide DC awarded Succotash a Bib Gourmand in 2019.
His philanthropic work includes the Lee Diversity Scholarship to support the Southern Foodways Alliance Oral History Workshop. In 2018, Chef Lee launched The LEE (Let’s Empower Employment) Initiative, which works to bring more diversity and equality to the restaurant industry.
Lindsey Ofcacek is both a co-founder and the director for The LEE Initiative, which launched in late 2017 and has a mission of addressing issues of diversity and equality in the restaurant industry. Since launching The LEE Initiative, Ofcacek has created several programs under its umbrella, including Women Chefs of KY; Restaurant Workers Relief Program; Restaurant Reboot Relief Program; Regrow; and McAtee Community Kitchen.
