Hood College MFA Graduate Designs Kentucky Governor’s Commemorative Award

Recipients of the 2016 Kentucky Governor’s Awards in the Arts, the state’s highest arts honors, will each receive a handmade platter created by Kentucky Crafted artist Matthew Gaddie of Bardstown. Gaddie said “I am grateful to be connected to continuing Kentucky’s cultural traditions and proud to be a practicing craftsman in our Commonwealth.”

Gaddie, who completed his Master of Fine Arts in Studio Ceramics at Hood in 2016, owns and operates The Meadows Pottery on his 315-acre family farm in Nelson County, approximately 60 miles west of Lexington.  He has been a full-time studio ceramic artist since 2007 and was an adjunct professor of art at St. Catharine College in Springfield from 2007 until its recent closing. In 2003, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the University of Evansville. He earned his Hood degree by making the 10-hour commute several times each year.

“In a time of mass produced uniformity, my ultimate goal is to create works that are unique, each piece having faithfully recorded its own tale of creation, of struggle, of success, of failure, of imperfection and of hope. A human tale told in clay and preserved through fire,” Gaddie said. “I am deeply honored to be a part of this award ceremony. I am grateful to be connected to continuing Kentucky’s cultural traditions and proud to be a practicing craftsman in our Commonwealth.”

The Governor’s Awards in the Arts are coordinated by the Kentucky Arts Council and honor those who have made significant contributions and achievements in the arts throughout the Commonwealth. Each year, the arts council commissions an artist to create a piece of original artwork to be presented to the recipients during the awards ceremony.

The 2016 Governor’s Awards in the Arts were presented on Friday, Oct. 21st, 2016. For more information about the awards ceremony, visit Governor’s Awards in the Arts