Appalachian Center for the Arts Executive Director Shannon Kirkpatrick-Daniels calls the community arts center and venue the “Unicorn of Eastern Kentucky.”
Why? Because in a rural region where community hubs are few and far between, a place like the Appalachian Center for the Arts becomes that much more special.
“I’ve worked in bigger cities where you work for a theater, and it’s awesome, but you could also go down the street and find another theater that is equally as awesome,” Kirkpatrick-Daniels said. “We’re kind of creating this community of full-on support for anyone who is interested in doing artistic ventures.”
The Appalachian Center for the Arts, located in Pikeville, is a place to enjoy and experience art, as well as a place to create it. It opened in 2019 as an initiative to strengthen the Appalachian city’s art scene and boost tourism while providing locals with a creative outlet, Kirkpatrick-Daniels said.
The center hosts theater performances, comedy and music shows and visual art galleries throughout the year, while offering an array of educational programs for all ages.
Visiting the Appalachian Center for the Arts
The Appalachian Center for the Arts strives to tell the stories of east Kentucky through several mediums, Kirkpatrick-Daniels said.
“It’s really about the people and the storytelling,” she said. “That’s really what is driving us now as an organization is that we just love our community. We love the people that we get to serve and interact with, and so when we’re choosing shows and we are trying to find entertainment for the general public, it’s, ‘What does our community want?'”
The center’s theater production “runs the gamut” of genres and target audiences, Kirkpatrick-Daniels said. In the 2025 season, guests have the true-crime production “Edith Tells All,” the mythical “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” and the cult-classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” to look forward to, among other shows.
“We try to have a wide range of opportunities that would support the tourists, the people visiting our town, and then also celebrate our community,” Kirkpatrick-Daniels said. “Our goal is basically just everybody who comes through our doors feels welcome.”
The center also has a visual arts gallery that features various exhibitions. An exhibition featuring a body of concert and musician photography by Kentucky photographer Estill Robinson will show through the month of October, Kirkpatrick-Daniels said.
Upgrades coming soon to the Appalachian Center for the Arts
Appalachian Center for the Arts visitors also have new additions to look forward to in the coming months.
In December 2025, the center plans to unveil modifications to its gallery space, Kirkpatrick-Daniels said. One aspect of the new space will be a gallery for community artists to display and sell their work year-round. The other aspect will be a “sensory-inclusive space,” which will serve as a quiet area with a live feed of the ongoing performance so people can enjoy the live show in a calm environment.
“If people need to take a break, they have a quiet space that has sensory things that they can partake in,” Kirkpatrick-Daniels said. “For our little kids, it’ll be a safe space that they can play while the parents are still watching the show.”
For more information about the Appalachian Center for the Arts and its upcoming programing, visit the organization’s website.
Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at kbaarlaer@gannett.com or @bkillian72 on X.
