Events

Open to grades 6-8.

We had so much fun with our debut summer camp last year that we’re bringing it back for 2025! For one special week this summer, museum-curious middle-schoolers will have a chance to get hands-on with the exhibition creation process from brainstorming to opening reception. Campers will go behind the scenes and discover the secrets of the UK Art Museum’s collection, learn the ropes from art world professionals, and…

UK Art Museum
$150
Thu, Aug 7 2025, 7pm

In The Mood for swing?

Don’t miss the most popular and sought-after big band of all time on their stop in Lexington as a part of their 2025 international tour! The world famous Glenn Miller Orchestra will perform their hit songs including In The Mood, Moonlight Serenade, Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Pennsylvania 6-5000, String of Pearls, Tuxedo Junction and more classic songs of the swing era at the Singletary Center.

Music director…

Singletary Recital Hall
$55 Individual
Tue, Aug 19 - Sat, Dec 20 2025, All day
The first issue of Provoke magazine, published in Tokyo in November 1968, declared that “we as photographers must capture with our own eyes the fragments of reality that can no longer be grasped through existing language.” With this manifesto, Provoke encapsulated the energy of a time in which established conventions were discarded, and a new generation experimented with fresh outlooks and new technologies that shattered assumptions of what a…
UK Art Museum
Free
Tue, Aug 19 - Sat, Dec 20 2025, All day

Zhang Huan’s work across multiple media is inspired by the everyday processes of life— from breathing and eating to hopes and dreams. In 2006, Zhang began a series of paintings made from ash collected in Buddhist temples near his studio in Shanghai. The ash is created by incense sticks burned as prayers, often for good health, luck, and prosperity. This exhibition…

UK Art Museum
Free
Sat, Aug 30 2025, 1 - 11:30pm

Join the Sound of the Wildcats, the largest and most visible student experience at the University of Kentucky, for our annual WMB Honor Band Day! The event is open to all students in 9th - 12th grades. Registration may be submitted on an individual basis by the student, by their parent/guardian, or by the teacher on behalf of the student.

The day will include:

Opportunity to learn from UK Faculty and StaffRehearsal with the Wildcat…
$35 advanced registration to participate
Sun, Sep 7 2025, 3pm

Join us on Sunday, September 7, for 250Lex: Concert for Lexington, a celebration of the City’s 250th anniversary, featuring an all-star lineup of Lexington artists!

Conducted by Music Director Mélisse Brunet, the Lexington Philharmonic honors Lexington’s rich musical legacy with a work by trailblazing composer Julia Perry and a world premiere by Shawn E. Okpebholo, specially commissioned by the City of Lexington for this occasion.

Singletary Concert Hall
FREE, registration required.
Tue, Sep 9 2025 - Sat, Feb 7 2026, All day
This exhibition highlights Fragmentations, a series of etchings created by conceptual artist Agnes Denes. Born in Budapest in 1931, raised in Sweden, and later educated in the United States, she began displaying her work in the early 1960s. Her artwork discussed the socio-political climate of the time and paved the way for future artists and generations to express themselves in new aesthetic forms. Rooted in geometry and patterns, the print…
UK Art Museum
free
Tue, Sep 9 2025 - Sat, Feb 7 2026, All day
The artists in this exhibition let go of their impulse to control compositions by allowing chaotic elements of chance, circumstance, and contingency to influence their processes. Drips, scratches, pours, and bleeds move across the surfaces of their artworks seemingly at random, and yet clear forms emerge. Our imaginations might find sunsets, mountains, waterfalls, city streets, or human figures in these images, but these apparitions soon…
UK Art Museum
free
Tue, Sep 9 2025 - Sat, Feb 7 2026, All day
In 1966, the George Eastman House of Photography in Rochester, New York, hosted a pivotal exhibition curated by Nathan Lyons called Toward a Social Landscape. The slim, accompanying catalog was shared amongst photographers who were especially encouraged by Duane Michals’s observation that “when a great photographer does infuse the snapshot with his personality and vision, it can be transformed into something truly moving and beautiful.” The UK…
UK Art Museum
Free
Tue, Sep 9 2025 - Sat, Feb 7 2026, All day
A (Very) Brief History of Music takes as a given that any attempt to tell the history of a discipline in one exhibition is impossible.  So, we've decided to present a mix of works that reference traditional ballads, jazz, rock and roll, and punk in the Museum's smallest gallery space.  The installation is anchored by Catherine Irwin's trompe l'oeil sculpture of a telephone pole with band posters stapled to it, along with photographs of …
UK Art Museum
Free
Tue, Sep 9 2025 - Sat, Feb 7 2026, All day
The re:museum exhibition area offers its eighth edition, continuing to promote a welcoming engagement with art while offering a peek behind-the-curtain at Museum operations. This latest installation applies the notion of “reform” as a thematic umbrella to exhibit artworks that delve into concepts of transformation, iteration, activism, and emulation. Works on view represent new additions to our Digital Learning Gallery, including Mine Okubo…
UK Art Museum
Free
Thu, Sep 11 2025, 7:30pm

Don Slepian, a composer, performer, and music technologist, is celebrated as a pioneer in the ambient and new age music movement, blending classical influences with cutting-edge electronic techniques. From serving as artist-in-residence at Bell Laboratories and Synthesizer Soloist with the Honolulu Symphony to performing at esteemed venues like Lincoln Center, WNYC’s New Sounds, and the Centre Pompidou, his career spans decades of innovation…

Singletary Recital Hall
$15 Adults / $10 Students , FREE for UK Students
Sat, Sep 13 2025, 7:30pm

Mary Halvorson (guitar), Adam O’Farrill (trumpet), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums)

Guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson has been described as “a singular talent” (Lloyd Sachs, JazzTimes), ”NYC’s least-predictable improviser” (Howard Mandel, City Arts), “one of the most original jazz guitarists of our time” (Peter Margasak, Bandcamp Daily), and “one of today’s…

Singletary Recital Hall
$29 Adults / $13 Students, FREE for UK Students
Fri, Sep 19 2025, 7pm
Staten Island native Sal Vulcano is best known for creating and starring in truTV’s long-running hit “Impractical Jokers,” and for “The Misery Index” on TBS. In addition to performing as part of The Tenderloins Comedy Troupe to sold-out arenas, Sal founded the No Presh Network in 2020, hosting "Hey Babe!” and “Taste Buds” podcasts. Sal’s debut solo comedy special ‘Terrified’ was released in May 2024 on YouTube. Not recommended for young…
Singletary Concert Hall
Platinum Seating: $117.75 , Individual Tickets: $45.75 - $66.75 by location
Oct 3 2025 | 8pm

Jo Koy: Just Being Koy Tour | Friday, October 3, 2025 | Lexington, KY | Singletary Center for the Arts

From humble beginnings in a Las Vegas coffee shop to breaking records at arenas worldwide, Jo Koy has become one of today’s top stand-up comedians. Known for his sharp wit and heartfelt stories inspired by his Filipino family, Koy’s relatable comedy has earned him sold-out…

Singletary Concert Hall
VIP: $246.50, Platinum: $221.50, Standard Tickets: $96.50 | $76.50 | $54.50 by location