Beech Tree News Network

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Thumbpicking guitarist Alonzo Pennington will be the featured performer during the Kentucky Arts Council’s “Makings of a Master” exhibit’s stay in Beaver Dam through May 31. Pennington will perform a free concert Friday, April 29, from 7 pm. to 9 p.m. central time at the Ohio County Artists Guild, 101 N. Main St. in Beaver Dam.

Alonzo Pennington is the son of renowned thumbpicker Eddie Pennington, a recipient of an arts council Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant and a National Heritage Fellow.

“I feel like I’m following in my father’s footsteps,” Alonzo Pennington said. “Anytime I get a chance to work with the arts council, it’s great. They’ve been an important part of my music career since I was young.”

Alonzo Pennington said he looks forward to every opportunity to play in bluegrass legend Bill Monroe’s native county.

“Ohio County is one of the most important counties in Kentucky for the arts,” Alonzo Pennington said. “I always jump at the chance anytime Ms. (Fonda) Brown calls.”

Fonda Brown, Ohio County Artists Guild president, said having the “Makings of a Master” exhibit and a performer like Alonzo Pennington helps broaden the arts opportunities for Ohio County.

“It was such an honor to get to work with the Kentucky Arts Council to have the exhibit in Ohio County,” Brown said. “Part of our mission statement is to bring art into this area. With us being a rural, small town, we don’t get a lot of opportunities. This is big for us.”

Brown said the exhibit, which has been in Ohio County since March 1, has drawn several visitors.

“A lot of people have been in and related to the display,” Brown said. “We have people here in the area that make musical instruments, do basketry and quilting, so they enjoy seeing work of the masters. This exhibit also shows that the definition of art is widely varied. We encourage that.”

The “Makings of a Master” exhibit is on loan from the arts council and contains seven display cases housing a variety of musical instruments, tools and artworks made by master tradition bearers, interpretive panels, display photos and quotes, along with a push-button video display. The exhibit opened in Beaver Dam on March 1 and will remain at the Ohio County Artists Guild through May 31. The guild’s hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

For more information on the “Makings of a Master” exhibit, contact Mark Brown, arts council folk and traditional arts director, at [email protected] or 502-564-3757, ext. 495.

The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, fosters environments for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2016 the arts council celebrates the 50th anniversary of its establishment by the Kentucky General Assembly.