Awards to Kentucky individuals, organizations, businesses, agencies, and schools to recognize significant contributions to the arts within the state or nationally. The awards are intended to honor outstanding recipients in nine award categories. Awardees have supported artists and arts organizations and have demonstrated the value of the arts. An additional goal of the award program is to expand and diversify arts advocacy.

The nine categories (each with its own eligibility criteria) are as follows:

• Milner Award: Outstanding philanthropic, artistic, or other contributions to the arts
• Artist Award: Lifetime Achievement in the arts
• Business Award: Outstanding interest in and support of the arts
• Community Arts Award: Positive impact on the community through the arts
• Education Award: Significant contribution to arts in education
• Folk Heritage Award: Outstanding effort to perpetuate and promote Kentucky's unique artistic traditions
• Government Award: Significant support for the arts through government action
• Media Award: Commitment to bringing the arts to the attention of the public
• National Award: Achievement of national fame in the arts

Nominations will be reviewed using the following performance expectations as applied to each award category description:

• Personification of the value of the arts
• The nominee has demonstrated their/its support of artists and organizations in providing arts activities.