Lee Ward
The Independent
CATLETTSBURG —
Boyd County's arts scene has a little extra help.
Molly Maynard is the new Boyd County Extension agent for fine arts.
She's one of only five of her kind in the state.
In fact, Kentucky is the only state that has fine arts extension agents.
“With all the recent studies that show how the arts affect student's education for the better, UK decided it would be a good idea to help children get a well rounded education,” Maynard said.
A 2005 graduate of Boyd County High School, Maynard attended the Governor's School for the Arts to study theater and has a degree in theater with a minor in music from Morehead State University. She said she was just born to be involved in the arts.
“I was singing out of the womb. My mom and I would sing together when I was a kid,” she said. “She'd sing alto and I'd sing soprano while we were doing dishes.”
Her theater experience began with a Backstage Players' production of “Li'l Abner” at Armco Park in Ashland.
Although Maynard has been in the job for just a month, she has ideas about what she'd like to do. It starts, she said, with finding out what the public is interested in and the needs residents see.
“I was at the First Friday on July 16 just talking to people and making contacts, “ she said. She's also been distributing and collecting surveys to get an idea what needs exist. Although the surveying process is ongoing, she said she already sees that developing a market for local art is one main concern. While there is a strong interest in the performing arts, she said she's found ticket sales are down, which is a big stumbling block because of the cost of stage productions, which includes building sets and renting venues.
She doesn't see her job as creating competition for other arts program; part of the job is to promote and boost those existing programs.
Maynard does have a developing wish list for the area in terms of the arts.
For one, she said she hopes to offer workshops for artists to support their work. One of her ideas is a series of workshops for performing artists to focus on wellness. For instance, one workshop would teach singers how to preserve and protect their voices. Another would teach actors and dancers exercises to help them stay in shape and make the most of their movements on stage.
Maynard said she would like to create an advisory board made up of various kinds of artists and those in the community who aren't directly involved in the arts but who have an interest to help determine the needs of the community and to support all the arts.
A new theater in downtown Ashland also is on her wish list. She would like to see a modest, inexpensive place for stage productions, as well as a program such as the Country Music Highway's “Front Porch Pickin,'” which brings an informal, musical show to town one night a week.
Her job isn't just to develop arts opportunities in Catlettsburg and Ashland, though. She also would like to have an outreach to students all over the county to help them prepare for a career in the arts by helping them get portfolios, resumes and headshots for application to college arts programs.
She works with other extension agents for the arts, including Ann Stephens in Greenup County, to get ideas.
To a large degree, Maynard's job is open to her interpretation, because it is a new position and because she is new to the position.
“I'm excited and seeing others get excited makes me even more excited,” she said. “I think (increasing participation in the arts) can change the way we look at life.”
LEE WARD can be reached at lward@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2661.
