There was just one problem – Chinese officials demanded $3,000 to transfer his artwork from customs to the gallery and back again at the end of the show.

“I didn’t have the money,” he said. “I frantically sent out e-mails for about three days, trying to find someone who could lend it to me in time.”

The Louisville Visual Art Association came to his rescue with a speedy loan of the cash, and his art went on display as scheduled.
“They really helped me out of a bad situation,” he said. “They do a lot for artists in our community, and I think they’re great.”

Early exhibition
White’s predicament, and the satisfactory resolution of it, is only one example of the role that LVAA plays in Louisville’s arts community. The nonprofit organization is celebrating its 100th anniversary of promoting visual artists and their creations through exhibits, fundraising events and educational programs in the larger community.

Participants in LVAA’s Open Doors program worked on a mural. COURTESY PHOTO

Founded in June 1909 by a small group of artists and philanthropists, the organization now known as LVAA first attracted attention through an exhibit at the downtown Louisville Free Public Library. The show featured works by Mary Cassatt, Charles Dana Gibson, William Merritt Chase, Frederick Remington, Maxfield Parrish and Jean Camille Corot, to the delight of about 4,000 visitors.

Based today in the historic Water Tower, LVAA is fulfilling its mission “to enrich community life by educating people about the value and meaning of today’s visual arts and by championing artists and the creative process.”

Community catalyst
Shannon Westerman, LVAA’s executive director for the past six months, is determined to lead the organization toward that goal in a very 21st-century way.

“Today, art is recognized as a vital component of success in both local and global society,” Westerman said. “To that end, LVAA is committed to innovative efforts that will bring as many people as possible into engagement with their culture through meaningful experiences of visual arts, and help artists of all ages reach their full creative potential.

“As a catalyst for education and participation in the visual arts, LVAA is going to focus on building community involvement with the arts through collaboration – that is, work closely with other community-based organizations, artists groups and others – to expand visual art opportunities for diverse audiences and artists, thereby helping to increase the ‘cultural capital’ of Louisville.”

Hard at work
Westerman, who spent part of his childhood in Louisville but most of his earlier career in Atlanta and New York City, adds that “the amount of cultural capital we have in Louisville is already pretty significant.”

Although the J. B. Speed Art Museum and other venerable institutions are important resources and “pillars of our cultural community,” he believes that LVAA’s three-pronged approach to supporting the visual arts is also crucial. One of those prongs is support for artists who, like Brad White, occasionally need help and encouragement from their peers.

“From Market Street to the West End, there is so much talent here. Artists shouldn’t have to go to New York, Cincinnati or Indianapolis to get into exhibits, in my opinion,” Westerman said. “Artists are working people, like everyone else – but we work in studios or our homes rather than in factories or offices. There are more than 5,000 people in this area who work in the visual arts, including interior designers, printers and architects, and LVAA is involved in creating a database of all of them so that we can collectively communicate as one voice.”

ArteBella 100
LVAA is also dedicated to a pair of additional prongs: educating young people; and encouraging the creative spirit in people who seldom have the opportunity to experience the visual arts.

Those needs are met in part through Children’s Free Art Classes, held in cooperation with Jefferson County Public Schools for the past 85 years, and the Open Doors program, which helps handicapped, low-income and elderly participants find new expression through art.

LVAA has declared 2009 “The Year of the Visual Arts” and is hosting a number of special events that will culminate with the publication of a special centennial book from Louisville’s Butler Books. The celebration is called ArteBella 100 – a made-up name that, Westerman joked, “sounded beautiful and Italian, so who couldn’t like it?”

The LVAA’s 22nd annual DinnerWorks fundraiser will continue at the Water Tower until March 1; its artists and designers have teamed up to assemble 15 stylish tabletop displays.

DinnerWorks will be followed by BeerWorks, a microbrewery beer-tasting and feast, on Feb. 27.

For a complete list of annual and special LVAA events, visit ­louisvillevisualart.org.

“All of our events and programs are presented to fulfill our mission,” Westerman said. “Actually, LVAA has been doing a pretty good job for the past 100 years. There aren’t many arts organizations that have been around that long, and Louisville is very fortunate to have this one.”