Northport Asks Kentuck To Meet Regarding Festival Ahead Of Tuscaloosa Council Meeting

NORTHPORT, AL —On the eve of the Tuscaloosa City Council considering a Memorandum of Understanding with Kentuck Art Center, the City of Northport is requesting a sit-down meeting with Kentuck officials to discuss the issue, particularly as it may relate to the future of the Kentuck Festival of the Arts.

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While the details of what will be considered Tuesday have not been revealed, it comes amid a public spat between Kentuck and Northport regarding not only funding for the outside agency but the longtime site of the Kentuck Festival of the Arts.

Kentuck has also been reluctant to speak publicly on the matter, despite the City of Northport approving a new one-year funding agreement that provided a one-time special allocation of $5,000 for the current budget cycle.

Talks broke down, though, and no decision seemed to have been reached over consideration of the new agreement during the last Kentuck Board of Directors meeting.

What's more, Kentuck's Board of Directors last week announced several promotions, including a change in its executive director position, with Executive Director Amy Echols now set to take on the role of advisor for arts and strategic growth beginning Jan. 1, 2024.

In a letter to Kentuck ahead Tuesday's meeting of the Tuscaloosa City Council, Northport Council President Jeff Hogg said he wanted to meet with Kentuck officials in a setting that was open to the media in the hopes of promoting transparency and a constructive dialogue.

It's worth noting that Kentuck's board meetings are closed to the public and media.

Kentuck's Board of Directors confirmed that it received the letter early Monday morning and has not announced if its representatives will meet with Northport officials before the Tuscaloosa City Council meeting on Tuesday.

"While I am not surprised [at Kentuck's Tuscaloosa City Council agenda item]," Hogg said in his letter, "as this gesture has been threatened for years against the City of Northport, I do want to once again make it known that the City of Northport has never wavered in our intention of having a long-standing partnership of the festival at Kentuck Park ... I am requesting a meeting between the City of Northport and Kentuck prior to the Tuscaloosa Council meeting Tuesday evening in an effort for the festival to stay in Northport at Kentuck Park in the same area as it has for 52 years."

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