Kim Baker – President
Kentucky Performing Arts
By G. Douglas Dreisbach
Kentucky Performing Arts (KPA) is the nucleus for performing arts and entertainment in Louisville. Hosting over 400,000 visitors annually for Broadway in Louisville performances, Louisville Orchestra concerts, headlining entertainers and more, the organization is also a big proponent of Kentucky’s cultural and economic growth, contributing millions to the local economy, as well as an advocate for arts education with programs like the Governor’s School for the Arts. KPA champions accessibility, nurtures young talent, and strengthens communities through artistic expression.
KPA owns and oversees The Kentucky Center, Brown Theatre, and Old Forester’s Paristown Hall, which all host a variety of performances each year under the direction of CEO Kim Baker. Kim was in the first class of the Governor’s School for the Arts. She also received her Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of Kentucky’s College of Fine Arts and has navigated the group through its many peaks and valleys since 2014.
Kim is a strong and dynamic leader in the arts community, with extensive experience in the areas of arts administration and theater management, communications, programming, and development. We were excited to catch up with her to talk about KPA, her vision for the community and what she loves about what she does.
Doug Dreisbach: What is Kentucky Performing Arts, and what are some of your roles and responsibilities?
Kim Baker: Kentucky Performing Arts is a nonprofit organization, and our mission is to connect and inspire through the arts. We do that through a couple of different methods, but one that most people really know and think about is the facility. Our main facility is The Kentucky Center, which is 40 years old and sits right in Downtown Louisville on Main Street. The building is home to three theaters and all kinds of rooms and wonderful contemporary art. We also have Old Forester’s Paristown Hall and the Brown Theatre for events and performances.
We also really work to fill all those spaces with the broadest type of entertainment and cultural experiences. We work with community artists and international touring artists, as well as our wonderful resident companies that are professional local companies. There’s just a number of ways that we fill the spaces and end up doing upwards of 400 different kinds of events a year.
The other thing we do is more of a broad outreach focusing on cultural programming and education out in the community. Signature programs like the Governor’s School for the Arts and a new program that we’re going to be launching a little bit later this year called the Bradley Award. We want to make sure we are connecting and really building relationships with the broader community.
DD: We’ve got to mention the Governor’s School for the Arts, a program that you and the KPA have supported and are particularly proud of, and you are an alumna of the first graduating class. Is that correct?
KB: I am. I was lucky enough to be the right age at the right time, when that program first came to be, and so I was in the first class as a flute player. The program helped me understand the breadth of performing arts in the world and also connected me with Kentuckians that were just like me. It really helped launch me into this career.
DD: Since its start, the program has served thousands of students, several hundred each year, for various things. Can you tell us what the school is all about and how it has evolved over the years?
KB: It is a great program that has grown since COVID through some federal funding that we received, and now we are fundraising to replace those funds and to ensure that we serve 500 youth from across the commonwealth, tuition-free, for three weeks in the summer.
Since the school started, I think we’ve got upwards of 8,000 graduates from the program. The program has a lot of different disciplines, so we really try to find young creatives that are rising juniors and seniors. We get everything from creative writing and musical theater to film and photography, so those things that you would think of as maybe obvious performing arts disciplines, to some that maybe are not quite so obvious and aren’t performing arts, necessarily, like visual arts.
We collect these students. We really work with them. They are cross-disciplinary, and they get an opportunity to work with college professors, arts educators, and performers, and it just really expands their horizons and helps them understand maybe what the future holds for them. To get in, there is a competitive audition that occurs around this time, so I really encourage people to look on our website and learn more. There’s just really wonderful, celebrated artists all over the world coming out of this program. I recently spent time with Kevin Olusola, who is a cellist, the beat-box cellist for Pentatonix, while they were in town. And he’s a graduate, so that’s an example of someone who has come from this program.
DD: From your perspective, how important is it for a city to have a vibrant arts and entertainment scene? Where are we now and where would you like to see our arts and entertainment scene in the future?
KB: I really think a vibrant arts scene is critical for a community to thrive, really, because it not only makes a place more interesting as a cultural center, but it also really supports the economy. It creates jobs. It creates talented workers, and it’s also really a driver of health.
I think, ever since we came through the pandemic, we understand the importance of gathering and coming together, and there’s no better place than the performing arts to bring people together, to experience a social return on investment, so to speak. It really touches all of the important parts of a community, and that is something I am dedicated to improving and growing here in the commonwealth.
DD: What challenges do you see that might hinder the arts and entertainment culture being vibrant?
KB: Well, there are challenges and there are opportunities. I think, right now, you want to have a community that is filled with artists. Artists like to be around other artists. That’s where they have an opportunity to create together. We have great artists in our community. We need more, and we need to be a friendly community for artists to work and to perform and to create. I think that’s really something I would like to work with city leaders on and figure out how to attract more artists and culture carriers to live here in our community.
I think downtown is really trying, with the decrease in folks living downtown after COVID and businesses, work-from-home having a big impact on downtown. I think it’s made it a little quieter. I would say that I see, on Main Street, so much activity coming up and down the street through tourism, but also just the Museum Row on Main that kind of goes to the west of the center, and the facilities that are to the east. I just think there’s a lot of opportunity in this corridor to create more of a cultural district, and that’s something I am interested in also working with the leaders on, and really the commonwealth. How can we kind of use arts and culture and all the great things we’ve got going to really turn it up a notch and attract businesses and restaurants and artists and so many other wonderful things?
DD: What are some accomplishments that you’ve achieved since you’ve been with KPA, not only as the President, but from when you first started with KPA?
KB: I think the best thing that I’ve accomplished is just working with our board and the team here on a vision that says, “We’re not sitting still. We have an opportunity to support and serve the community where it needs us. We have an opportunity to create change.” Some of the things that I’m the proudest of, I would say, are the real expansion of the audiences that we reach. We built Old Forester’s Paristown Hall, and that opened a whole new market of audiences and artists for us to work with, and that’s been great fun. Then, caring for the Brown Theatre, which is a 100-year-old historic theater, making sure that that cultural jewel that we bought a number of years ago, is taken care of. It is one of the busiest theaters in the city right now doing all kinds of different programming, from comedy to, of course, the Kentucky Opera housing their season there. I think it’s more of a mindset that I’ve been the most proud of. I am also excited about the team I have in place, and just kind of that idea of, “OK, what’s next? What can we do next?”
DD: In your opinion, what’s the perfect night when you go to a performance? Whether it’s a KPA venue or somewhere in New York or wherever? What’s your perfect night from when you walk in to when you walk out? And, how do you and your team try to deliver that for your audiences?
KB: What I love about going to the arts is that it’s unexpected. You always have a one-of-a-kind experience, an experience that’ll never happen quite that way again. For me, my perfect night is coming to the venue, or any of our venues, really, and just stumbling upon something that I didn’t expect. Maybe it’s that there are several things going on at once, so the lobbies are filled with all kinds of people coming together to experience culture.
For us, we want the experience to be easy and welcoming. We build all our work around being accessible and having a welcoming environment. From the time you park, the idea that you’re meeting KPA individuals that are happy that you’re there and they are there to make your life easier. Our 400-plus volunteers that are there to greet you and help you find your way. Everything from the music that’s played in the lobby to the wonderful bars that we have with their creative signature drinks reflecting the evening’s performance. It’s just a lot of fun.
DD: In closing, what else would you like to add, and what would you like our listeners and readers to know about the upcoming months for the KPA?
KB: I would say that any time I direct people to learn more about the shows that happen here at one of our theaters, they’re always blown away by the broad diversity of performances and experiences that they can have. I would just really encourage the community to plug in. And at a very entry-level rate, a donation of just a little over $100, you can really get plugged in and learn all about the things that are happening here and get some really one-of-a-kind experiences, as well. But regardless, just come and see what we’re up to.
For more information about upcoming shows and tickets, visit KentuckyPerformingArts.org
CLICK HERE for more interviews with Leaders of Louisville Arts Groups
