2025 marks the third consecutive year that Commerce Lexington has chosen to present original artwork to their Small Business Award winners, and the awards themselves have been as diverse and dynamic as the businesses they honor. These pieces are one-of-a-kind representations of Commerce Lexington’s commitment to creativity, collaboration, and community support, and each has been selected from artists represented by ArtHouse Kentucky in Lexington’s East End.
This year, Commerce Lexington chose a custom ceramic piece created by Wyman Rice to present to DV8 Kitchen & Bakery, the 2025 Small Business of the Year. DV8, located at The MET in East End, is a social enterprise offering second-chance employment to individuals in recovery, while Rice is a longtime Kentucky artist previously featured in various national publications as well as in A Pottery Tour of Kentucky.
A Fitting Finale to a Storied Career
Now 82 and officially retired, Rice is no longer producing new works. The artist, who fell in love with ceramics early in his creative journey, pivoted from his early days throwing utilitarian vessels on a pottery wheel to free-handing the organic shapes that identify his inspired work today.
“All of my work is hand-formed. I start at the bottom and build up,” Rice explains. “When I start a piece, I have a direction in mind, but I am not committed to a final form. I just let it tell me what it wants to be. I let it evolve and guide it along the way. Then it just kind of happens.”
The piece by Rice that was selected by Commerce Lexington was crafted using the Japanese firing technique known as Raku, where the kiln is quickly superheated and the fired contents, upon completion, are removed while still red hot. This blend of art and technique produces the unique and somewhat unpredictable effects that characterize Rice’s work.
Rice says that he is honored and humbled that one of the final pieces he sculpted was presented to DV8 Kitchen to honor their life-changing work with recovering professionals re-entering the workforce.
A meaningful change
While the Commerce Lexington Small Business Awards began in 1986, it wasn’t until 2023 that the organization’s planning committee decided to uplift not only the business winners but also the imaginative creators of the awards themselves. Working through LexArts to put out a call to local artists, Commerce Lexington chose a vibrant, colorful kiln-formed glass bowl from award-winning glass artist Mark Johnson as their first original award.
Johnson is President of Art Inc. Kentucky, a nonprofit business incubator for creatives operated by Community Ventures and located at The MET in Lexington’s historic East End. He also oversees AIK offshoot ArtHouse Kentucky, a gallery that represents some of Kentucky’s finest established and emerging artists. It was at ArtHouse Kentucky that Commerce Lexington discovered the work of not only Johnson and Rice but also Dr. Bharat Mody, a retired surgeon and philanthropist whose art sales benefit local causes. Mody’s dynamic stained-glass work was selected by Commerce Lexington in 2024.
“Working with ArtHouse Kentucky gallery to select locally produced works brings well-deserved visibility to the artists, elevates our event, and honors our award winners in a meaningful way,” explained Bob Quick, President and CEO of Commerce Lexington.
“Featuring local artwork as awards not only enhances the experience but also strengthens our support for the arts community. Our recipients often proudly display these pieces in their businesses or organizations.”
Celebrating the Business of Art in Lexington
Art Inc. Kentucky was established in 2019 to help Kentucky artists turn their creative passion into long-term, sustainable income. Through business education, mentorship, gallery exposure, affordable studio space, and its innovative art-centric village of live-work spaces, Art Inc. Kentucky is enabling creatives across the Commonwealth to thrive.
A vast and varied array of artists coming from diverse backgrounds can be found among Art Inc. Kentucky’s ranks, working across a wide range of genres and mediums.
Johnson is thrilled that the ArtHouse Kentucky collaboration with Commerce Lexington is reinforcing the importance of art and its reflection of the culture and community that creates it.
“It’s an incredible honor to see Wyman’s amazing artistry recognized in this way and to have our gallery once again entrusted by Commerce Lexington to provide such a meaningful award,” said Johnson. “We are truly humbled.”
Neighbors Uplifting Lexington’s East End
For nearly four decades, Commerce Lexington’s Salute to Small Business Awards presented by Forcht Bank have honored the ingenuity and entrepreneurship behind the city’s most successful business endeavors. The businesses, the awards and the artists who create them are groundbreakers shaping the city’s economic and cultural landscape.
In an interesting aside, DV8 Kitchen is the next-door neighbor of ArtHouse Kentucky at The MET. Both establishments beckon visitors to come get to know the East End, one of Lexington’s most historic neighborhoods.
“At ArtHouse Kentucky, we believe that art is not only beautiful, but also a reflection of the spirit, talent, and amazing stories that define our community,” notes Johnson. “And to celebrate our neighbors at DV8 Kitchen for being the recipient of this award—an organization whose mission is literally transforming lives—makes all of this even more special. Together, we’re reminded that both art and business have the power to inspire and bring lasting change to a community.”
And to be sure, Commerce Lexington’s Salute to Small Business Awards are crucial to that mission. Each time an original work of art is presented, it reflects both the unique vision of its creator and the values of the recipient. It’s a celebration of commerce and culture, in a way that’s uniquely Lexington.
To learn more about Commerce Lexington’s Salute to Small Business Awards, click here. Explore the ArtHouse Kentucky gallery, access more works by Wyman Rice, or find an artist to commission your own special piece at artinckentucky.org.