Our 2023 Community Intensive Season Begins: RUX Returns to Louisville
Louisville Welcomed RUX Back for our Second Year in the River City!
The kickoff of the 2023 cohort of the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange took place June 9-11 in Louisville.
55 Kentuckians from 22 counties arrived at the University of Louisville campus on June 9 and began the connective work of meeting their homerooms and spending time on individual growth mapping to set intentions for the weekend. We travelled by TARC bus to The Filson Historical Society where we were welcomed by Emma Bryan, RUX cohort member and Filson Community Engagement Specialist, who shared about the reception for the Andrew Feiler exhibit “A Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4, 978 Schools that Changed America” which the cohort visited later in the evening. We enjoyed a fabulous Welcome Dinner created by Chef Katie Smith of the LEE Initiative, and enjoyed meeting community members, Elizabeth Sawyer (Hood to the Holler, RUX Host Committee) and Councilwoman Betsy Ruhe (District 21) who joined for dinner and story circles with the cohort. We then enjoyed A Mid Summer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare in the Park, just a few blocks from The Filson.
Saturday began with Abundant Futures, a time for the cohort to gather for cross-sector collaboration in small groups, and then we enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by Chef LaToya Bradley of Brew & Sip (and Flavorfull Catering). The cohort boarded the TARC bus and Bernard Clay told stories and read from his book, English Lit, about his famous relative, Muhammad Ali, as we travelled past Central High School to arrive at the Western Library Block Party. In a collaboration with Fund for the Arts , Western Library put on an incredible community resource fair, which included a book sale, artists, music, and panel of authors from the Louisville Story Program who shared excerpts from their work in the newest LSP book, If You Write Me a Letter, Send it Here: Voices of Russell in a Time of Change. Following the panel, the RUX cohort and community members gathered for a story circle inside Western Library.
We then boarded the TARC bus and Eboni Cochran, co-director of Rubbertown Emergency ACTion, conducted a tour of significant pollution sites and discussed the work of REACT in using science to propel community and legislative change. The cohort gathered back on campus for homeroom discussion and processing of the day’s experiences; then it was time to have dinner and enjoy being in great company!
We began Sunday learning about Olmsted Parks with Matt Spalding, the Director of Stewardship with the Olmsted Parks Conservancy, who guided the cohort by TARC bus and on a walk to the Iroquois Park overlook. We travelled next to the Little Loomhouse where the cohort experienced weaving mini Kentucky coverlets and learned about the significance of weaving in Kentucky from Executive Director (and RUX cohort member) Michelle Amos. We then listened to a narrative stage led by Mark Brown, Folk and Traditional Arts Director with the Kentucky Art’s Council. Mark talked with Michael George, Jefferson County Schools and RUX Steering Committee Member, and Elijah Eke (Ekknowledge), the first hip hop artist to be awarded a KAC Folk Arts Apprenticeship. Ekknowledge then performed several songs for the cohort in the beautiful outdoor space of the Little Loomhouse.
From there we were joined by Nannie Croney, Program Lead with The Hope Buss, who shared with the cohort about issues surrounding unhoused people and the work being done to assist with the transformative services of The Hope Village. The cohort then arrived at St. John Center where we enjoyed conversation, lunch from Toasty’s Tavern, and a boisterous game of Kentucky Bingo with clients of the center. To conclude, we headed back to U of L for our closing homeroom discussions and reflection on a very full weekend.
These community events were developed by RUX staff and our local host committee in partnership with the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute at University of Louisville, Filson Historical Society, Food Literacy Project, Fund for the Arts, Hood to the Holler, the Hope Campus, Kentucky Arts Council, LEE Initiative, the Little Loomhouse, the Louisville Free Public Library, Louisville Story Program, Louisville Metro Government, Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Rubbertown Emergency ACTion, St. John Center, and the Transit Authority of River City. We appreciate you all!
