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Arts

The RiverPark Center, a contemporary entertainment complex, perched on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Owensboro, is a cornerstone of entertainment activity and the venue for Friday After Five, a free- 16-week outdoor concert series offered May through August. Friday After Five stretches along the riverfront with art exhibits along the riverfront park and is followed by each week by the free Sunset Series of concerts in the Mitch McConnell Plaza on the riverfront. These back-to-back concerts offer a great night of entertainment every Friday night all summer.

Unusual among cities of its size, Owensboro boasts a thriving arts life. The River Park Center, whose two auditoriums hosted more than 150 performances and 900 civic events last year, presents a wide variety of entertainment, including productions designed especially for students. The River Park Center is also known as “Broadway West” in the national theater community. Each year the River Park hosts theater companies while they build touring shows like 42nd Street. Some local talent is used in set building, costumes and technical areas before the production launches a world tour beginning with an Owensboro premiere in Cannon Hall.

In 2007 RiverPark Center inaugurated a Mystery Writers Festival which premiered 12 new mystery plays and drew writers, directors and performers, as well as audience members and workshop participants, from all parts of the United States.

RiverPark is also the performance home for the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra and is adjacent to the International Bluegrass Music Museum. The Theatre Workshop of Owensboro has, for forty years, been the home of community theater productions and the Owensboro Dance Theatre has offered performance opportunities to regional talent for twenty-five years. The Owensboro Museum of Fine Art houses a respected collection of Kentucky art and mounts a variety of special exhibitions. The Owensboro Museum of Science and History also offers traveling exhibits along with its Speedzeum tribute to motorsports, its hands-on children’s museum, and the Wendell Ford Government Education Center.