UK Gaines Center For The Humanities Videos Explore How Kentucky Creatives Are Weathering Coronavirus

From the University of Kentucky:

June 19, 2020

By Whitney Hale

While many find working from home during a global pandemic difficult, others find the change of environment and schedule spurs their creativity. The University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities is exploring the impact of this time on creatives as part of a new video series, “Over Yonder: Conversations with Artists and Scholars on Social Distancing.”

“Over Yonder,” which launched on the Gaines Center’s new YouTube channel, features the center’s director, Melynda Price, interviewing Kentucky artists, musicians and scholars on their quarantine experience. As part of the series, Price explores how her guests are working and innovating amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This digital project features artists and scholars in humanities disciplines to discuss the impact of safety policies on their work and how they have adapted,” Price said. “This initiative allows the Gaines Center to offer a humanities response to COVID-19 while leading the way in redefining scholarship and community in a crisis.”

The Gaines Center launched “Over Yonder” with an interview of award-winning writer Crystal Wilkinson, associate professor in the Department of English, the Program in African American and Africana Studies and the UK Appalachian Center in the College of Arts and Sciences. Price (with technical support from her 10-year-old son James) has also completed interviews with poet Savannah Sipple and historian and photographer Nikki Brown, UK faculty member in the Department of History and African American and Africana Studies.

Additional interviews are scheduled with such guests as artist Crystal Gregory, assistant professor of fiber arts in the School of Art and Visual Studies in the UK College of Fine Arts, and Lexington-based singer-songwriter and UK alumnus Grayson Jenkins. To find “Over Yonder” and other Gaines Center videos related to all things humanities, visit the center’s YouTube Channel here.

Founded in 1984 by a generous gift from John and Joan Gaines, the Gaines Center for the Humanities functions as a laboratory for imaginative and innovative education on UK's campus. Part of the Division of Student and Academic Life, the center is devoted to cultivating an appreciation of the humanities in its students and faculty. The Gaines Center embraces varied paths of knowledge and particularly strives to integrate creative work with traditional academic learning.

This press release was produced by the University of Kentucky. The views expressed here are the author’s own.