RUX releases Living with Complexity Case Studies and Handbook

With support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Living with Complexity Case Studies and Currency of Connection Handbook tell the story of the first seven years of the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange, and the Kentuckians who have been impacted. 

The Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange (RUX) is a creative leadership program designed to develop skills and confidence, grow social capital, and build relationships to bridge divides. Founded in 2014 as a joint-program of Art of the Rural and Appalshop, RUX has grown to include 250 alumni from 42 counties, and 11 host communities. Each of these members have traveled across rural and urban Kentucky to build connections across cultural, racial, economic and geographic divides, engaging in conversations that challenge their identities but also help them discover similarities they share with those they have thought opposing. 

Please enjoy this opportunity to hear from them. 

The Living with Complexity Case Studies share the impact of the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange through the stories of twelve Kentuckians who have engaged with the program over it’s seven year history. The interviews are organized in the context of the three components of the RUX Currency of Connection Framework: People, Place, and Partnership.

The Living with Complexity Case Studies are supported by a 2019 ArtWorks-Multidisciplinary category award from the National Endowment for the Arts. They were written by founding RUX Steering Committee Members Ivy Brashear and Richard Young. Ivy and Richard also conducted the interviews. The concept for the Case Studies was developed by the Rural-Urban Exchange Expansion team, and additional editing was provided by Taylor Killough, Mark Kidd, and Savannah Barrett.

Download the Living with Complexity Case Studies here.

The Currency of Connection Handbook shares the framework and approach of the Rural-Urban Exchange. This document also tells the story of our learnings and impact while tracking the history of the program’s development from our pilot in 2014 and through the first five years of the full program 2015-2018.

The Currency of Connection Handbook was written by the Rural-Urban Exchange Expansion Team, and reflects the contributions of Savannah Barrett, Ivy Brashear, Nick Covault, Stefani Dahl, Gerry James, Mark Kidd, Ada Smith, Sarah Schmitt, Tanya Torp, Richard Young. This work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the McKnight Foundation, and our founding partners at Art of the Rural and Appalshop.

Download the Currency of Connection Handbook here.

The Rural-Urban Exchange has been made possible by Appalshop and Art of the Rural, the Rural Policy Research Institute, the National Endowment for the Arts, the McKnight Foundation, the W.L. Lyons Brown Foundation, and the dozens of individuals, regional foundations, and businesses that have enabled our work together. We honor all of the Kentuckians who came before us to clear the path. Most of all, we dedicate this work to honor the founding RUX Steering Committee and all of the Kentuckians who took leaps and risks, gave their time, money, and relationships, and grew together to shape an approach that is infused with not only who we are, but what we believe ourselves to be capable of.