Nick Clooney stands in for son

State News

Discussion

October 6, 2009

By RONNIE ELLIS — CNHI News Service The Glasgow Daily Times Tue Oct 06, 2009, 08:13 PM CDT

FRANKFORT — According to his dad, George Clooney has never forgotten his roots in Kentucky despite his success as an internationally known actor and director.

But Clooney couldn’t make it to Frankfort Tuesday for the presentations of the Governor’s Awards in the Arts. Instead, his mother and father, Nina and Nick Clooney, accepted on his behalf. But Nick Clooney knew many gathered in the Capitol Rotunda came hoping to see the famous actor who grew up in Augusta.

“Nina and I share your deep, deep, deep disappointment that George is not here,” said Nick Clooney as he accepted the National Award. “However, we’re not as disappointed as you because George is working. We’re glad to see him working because he is our retirement.”

Clooney is the recipient of the National Award which honors Kentuckians who gain national and international recognition in the arts.

But his dad said the younger Clooney has never forgotten his Kentucky heritage in spite of his success and travels around the world. Clooney graduated from Augusta High School and briefly attended Northern Kentucky University. But after landing a small part in a movie set in Kentucky and filmed by a cousin, Clooney moved to Hollywood and set his sights on becoming an actor.

“Despite all his travels all over the world, he has never forgotten where the sun shines the brightest,” Nick Clooney said Tuesday.

Also honored with the Folk Heritage Award was the Kentucky Folk Art Center at Morehead State University and seven others.

The center which opened in 1997 houses a library and extensive collection of works by Kentucky folk artists, containing more than 1,300 pieces of work by regional folk artists such as Edgar Tolson, Minnie Black, Carle McKenzie, Noah Kinney, Charley Kinney, Tim Lewis Ronald and Jessie Cooper, Lonnie and Twyla Money and Garland and Minnie Adkins.

The Garland and Minnie Adkins Gallery on the second floor of the restored Union Grocery building which houses the Folk Art Center, presents several new exhibitions each year. The Kentucky Folk Art Center is the only art museum in the 51-county Appalachian region of Kentucky.

In addition to exhibits, the center has a museum education program which includes traveling school exhibits, digital exhibitions and on-site school presentations and support for teachers.

Maysville won the Government Award for its tradition of supporting the arts, including the Rosemary Clooney Music Festival (Clooney is Nick Clooney’s sister and George Clooney’s aunt); the Uncorked Wine Festival, Pig Out on the Market; the Riverwalk Arts Festival; and support for the Washington Opera House and Russell Theatre.

Other award winners were Artist Award – Chilton Price of Louisville, violinist with the Louisville Orchestra and song writer; Community Arts Award – Janice Mason Art Museum in Cadiz; Education Award – Harry Pickens of Louisville, pianist, composer and teacher; Media Award – Judith Egerton, who for 30 years covered the arts for The Courier-Journal; Business Award – Liquor Barn of Lexington and Louisville for its support of the arts; and the Milner Award – Jerry E. Baker of Bowling Green, who endowed a music professorship at Western Kentucky University, served on the board of the Kentucky Arts Council and has supported the Owensboro Museum of Fine Arts and the Capitol Arts Center of Bowling Green.

Text Only

State News

EVENING UPDATE: Supreme Court: Lawmakers to run in old districts
Legislative candidates will have to run in decade-old districts in this year’s elections, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Friday afternoon.

February 24, 2012
Stivers withdraws pseudoephedrine bill
In a move that surprised both supporters and opponents, the sponsor of a bill to require prescriptions for medications containing pseudoephedrine withdrew the bill in the state Senate Thursday.

February 23, 2012
Gambling talk, cold medicine dominates week
First it was redistricting which dominated every conversation in the 2012 General Assembly. Lawmakers couldn’t resolve that issue and it’s now before the state Court of Appeals which is expected to seek to transfer the case to the state Supreme Court.

February 17, 2012
Drug bill clears committee
It took some blunt testimony and visual evidence and the vote was close, but the Senate Judiciary Committee passed out a bill Thursday to require prescriptions for the purchase of products containing pseudoephedrine.

February 16, 2012
Senate committee looks at constables
A state Senate committee revised a proposed constitutional amendment which would have eliminated the office of constable Wednesday, choosing instead to offer a statute to allow local governments to define constables’ duties through ordinance.

February 16, 2012
Medicaid managed care groups reassure committee
Medicaid managed care organizations went before a restive Senate committee whose members have been bombarded with complaints from providers about late payments for Medicaid services.

February 16, 2012
Gambling amendment introduced
Gov. Steve Beshear and Republican Sen. Damon Thayer on Tuesday announced the much anticipated gambling amendment they hope to push through the legislature, an amendment that would allow up to seven casinos, five at existing horse racing tracks.

February 15, 2012
Activists gather to protest mountaintop removal
Their message was clear, though not everyone agrees with it.

February 15, 2012
Kentucky pharmacists unhappy with rates
A roomful of Kentucky pharmacists Monday made clear their dissatisfaction with some of their reimbursement rates under the newly implemented Medicaid managed care system before a legislative committee.

February 14, 2012
LRC appeals to Supreme Court
A lawyer for the governing arm of the state legislature has filed an appeal asking the state Supreme Court to dissolve a Franklin Circuit Court temporary injunction that 2012 candidates for the legislature run under 2002 district lines and set aside its ruling that the new district lines passed this year are unconstitutional.

February 14, 2012
More State News Headlines

State News

Search Results

Discussion

Nick Clooney stands in for son

Site Map