Opening Night Goes Orange to Kick Off Derby Week and Spring Racing with Local Arts Celebration

Apr 11, 2019 Sara Brown Meehan

Fourth Year of Live Arts Performances and William Walker Stakes

LOUISVILLE, KY (April 11, 2019) – Churchill
Downs and Fund for the Arts will kick off Derby week for the fourth year by
adding live performances by local artists to the evening of live racing at
Opening Night presented by Budweiser. For the second year, the event’s theme
will be orange, the color of creativity and encouragement, to celebrate
Louisville’s exciting arts community. Guests are encouraged to incorporate
orange into their outfit. Opening Night is Saturday, April 27. Tickets are
available at www.ChurchillDowns.com.

The evening will include more than live 20 performances by more
than 150 local actors, dancers, musicians and visual artists throughout the
track and on Churchill Downs’ Big Board. Each artists was chosen for how they
incorporate orange into their performance.

Featured Plaza Stage entertainment includes:

• Karan Chavis: 7:15 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• Zach Longoria Project: 9:00 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
• Short performances by YOYA Dance Troupe, Kentucky Shakespeare and
  Dancers Center for Training between 5:50 p.m. and 6:40 p.m.

Artists performing throughout the Racetrack
include:

• Amberly
  Simpson & Dancers – modern dance performances
• Demi
  Bechtloff – umbrella installation art
• BioGlitz –
  performance art with glitter bar & glitter models
• Louisville
  Listens & Danny Seim – music and piano installation and performances
• CirqueLouis –
  contemporary circus performances
• The Art of
  Kacy (Kacey Jackson) – live mural painting
• ·Resko Art
  (Braylyn Stewart) – live mural painting
• ·Chris
  Chappell – live mural painting
• ·Francisco
  Cardona – “Planet Orange” LED art installation
• ·The Louisville
  Leopards – student percussion ensemble performance
• ·Wheeler
  Elementary School – installation art by 120 Wheeler Elementary 5^th
  graders
• ·Dancer’s
  Center for Training – dance performances
• ·YOYA Dance
  Troupe – Chinese folk dance performances
• ·KMAC –
  wearable art performances
• ·Sarabande
  Books – roaming personalized poetry
• ·Fazier
  History Museum – actress performing in a custom-made 1904 Derby dress
• ·Wonnd &
  Twine – barrel art installation
• Kentucky
  Shakespeare – roaming performance art
• Lynn Dunbar
  Bayus – live painting
• Grant
  Goodwine – live painting

During
Opening Night, Fund for the Arts and Churchill Downs will present the 2019
Awards in the Arts presented by Kindred Healthcare and Joy Mangano, a
separately ticketed charitable event in the Starting Gate Suites that
celebrates the arts community in the Greater Louisville region and the arts
contribution to our unique cultural landscape and quality of place. Most of
all, Awards in the Arts celebrates the artists themselves and their talent and
passion for transformative and inspiring works of art. The seven Awards in the
Arts award winners, which include the National Award in the Arts, National Arts
Advocate, Lifetime Achievement, Arts Innovation, Arts Education, Arts Impact
and Emerging Leadership, will be broadcast live on the Big Board.

For the fourth year, Opening Night’s featured racing event is the
annual running of the $100,000 William Walker Stakes. William “Billy” Walker
Sr. was one of Churchill Downs’ leading riders and trainers and an accomplished
expert on breeding and bloodlines for 25 years. The African American jockey
guided Derby winner Baden-Baden to a two-length victory in 1877 and advised the
breeder of five Derby winners, three Hall of Famers and Triple Crown-Winner,
Sir Barton (1919).

Admission starts at $17 and Reserved Box seats start at $34.
Courtyard tickets are $104 and Winner’s Circle Suite tickets are $130 and each
includes admissions, full bar, small plates and a program. Gates open at 5:00
p.m. with first post at 6:00 p.m. Recommended attire is Dress to Impress
cocktail attire that incorporates orange and fashionable headwear.

About Churchill Downs Racetrack

Churchill
Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing
and presented the Kentucky Derby since 1875. Located in Louisville, the
flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ: CHDN) offers
year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will
conduct the 145^th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by
Woodford Reserve on May 4, 2019. The track’s 2019 Spring Meet is scheduled for
April 27-June 29. Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships
nine times. www.ChurchillDowns.com.

About
Fund For the Arts

Fund
for the Art is a regional nonprofit with the mission to maximize the arts to
drive economic development, education, and quality of life in our community.
The Fund conducts one of the oldest united arts campaigns and supports
world-class institutions, community organizations and arts-in-education. The
Fund for the Arts also hosts power2give.org, an online crowd-funding platform
for any 501(c)3 organization in Kentucky and Southern Indiana to post arts and
culture projects and the nationally recognized NeXt! leadership development
program for young professionals. For more information, visit www.fundforthearts.org.

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