The Center supports the research and performance of American music, with an emphasis on music of the Southern Appalachians.
The John Jacob Niles Center for American Music is a collaborative effort of the University of Kentucky School of Music, College of Fine Arts, and the University Libraries. It is named for Kentucky musician John Jacob Niles. The Center seeks to provide a comprehensive focus for the research and performance of American music, embracing both vernacular and cultivated aspects of the field, from the early Colonial period through the present, with special emphasis on the indigenous culture of the southeastern United States. The Center's mission is both archival and programmatic. It serves as a repository for primary and secondary research materials and it actively supports the dissemination of scholarly research in American Music.
The Niles Gallery is the most public part of the Niles Center. Located off the lobby of the Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts Library, the Gallery provides a space for lectures and small musical events. The display cases facing the Library lobby contain changing exhibits, but are often occupied by a collection of unique dulcimers made by Niles, as well as other instruments and objects relevant to the Niles collections.
Featured in the gallery are panels made from rough-hewn doors carved by John Jacob Niles.
Events scheduling for the Niles Gallery is managed by the Little Fine Arts Library. There is configurable chair seating for 50, a grand piano, podium, projection screen and movable divider panels.
