By RONNIE ELLIS — CNHI News Service
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.
