RUX returns to Owensboro & Daviess County

The Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange (RUX) cohort returned to Owensboro & Daviess County over the weekend of June 14-16, for the second and final RUX Community Intensive of 2024.

64 Kentuckians from 27 counties reconvened in Owensboro for a weekend planned by our local Host Committee, who worked for months to showcase both the community’s assets and its most pressing issues. This marked RUX’s second visit to the area, with the first visit occurring last summer. During their visit, the cohort learned about local arts, culture, & cuisine, and faith & identity in the local community, among other topics. They also attended the Black Expo’s Juneteenth celebration in English Park. Our visit even made the local paper - check out this article from The Owensboro Times!

RUX cohort members were housed throughout the weekend on the Kentucky Wesleyan College campus. Friday began with introductions and an orientation to the community, and the cohort reconnected in home rooms and kicked off the weekend with growth mapping before heading into a coffee & creativity break.

The cohort then spent the evening at the Owensboro Museum of Science & History, where they were welcomed by Chief Executive Officer Kathy Olson. The evening began with a “Taste of Owensboro” dinner, featuring dishes, produce, and fresh breads from The Miller House, Niko’s Bakery, McHenry’s Event Planning, and Cecil Farms. We then enjoyed a Community Conversation on Owensboro & the Arts, kicked off by Debbie Zuerner (Director of Community Engagement, Owensboro Health), with perspectives from Aaron Kizer (Owensboro-based artist), Jordan-Blake Key (director, musician, & theatre artist), Emmy Woosley (local thespian), and Brendan Stewart (Owner & director, The Vault Dance Studio), moderated by Chad Benefield (WBKR) with live hand-lettering by Mary-Katherine Maddox (WBKR).

After our time at the museum, the cohort had the option to go on a guided mural walking tour and explore Friday After Five in downtown Owensboro, in addition to a performance of “Won’t You Be My May-bor?” with May O’Nays at the Theatre Workshop of Owensboro, hosted by Actors Theatre of Louisville.

On Saturday morning, the cohort had the option to attend a yoga & movement workshop by Jamie Carter, in addition to a sector-focused coffee & connection on campus. Programming for the day kicked off with Abundant Futures before the cohort headed to Daviess County Public Library. At the library, we heard a Narrative Stage on faith & identity in Owensboro, with Jasey Hartz (Host, Fighting Catholic JetLag podcast), Sandy Bugay (President, Temple Adath Israel), Rev. Dr. Rhondalyn Randolph (NAACP President & Pastor, Pleasant Point Baptist Church), Allyson Sanders (KCTCS & Owner/Operator, The Party Space Place), and Shahram Karimi (Student, Brescia University), moderated by Mark Brown (Kentucky Arts Council). Boxed lunches were provided by The Cottage - along with beautifully iced RUX cookies!

Before returning to KWC, we gathered for story circles and home rooms at the library. After a break on campus, the cohort headed to English Park for Black Expo’s Juneteenth celebration, where we enjoyed live music and connected with local businesses & artists.

After our time at English Park, the cohort had time to self-explore downtown Owensboro. We were also hosted by locals Brian & Janice Smith in Philpot for a bonfire, jam, fishing, and swimming, in addition to a fun game night hosted by the RUX Steering Committee on campus.

Sunday morning began with cohort pitches - and it was awesome to hear about the many projects that RUX cohort members are working on across the Commonwealth! We completed real-time evaluations of the Community Intensive season and the weekend before meeting in home rooms once more. The weekend closed out with a taco bar lunch catered by Mechanicsville Kitchen - and we celebrated our second-year cohort members’ completion of the two-year RUX leadership program and expressed our gratitude for their vision, openness, & continued stewardship of RUX.

Thank you to our Owensboro Host Partners, to KWC for housing us, to the many community members who welcomed us and shared their stories, and to our Host Committee including: Joe Berry (Public Life Foundation of Owensboro), Debbie Zuerner (Owensboro Health), Laura Farmer (Owensboro Health), Lauren Calhoun (Owensboro Health), Chad Benefield (WBKR), Allyson Sanders (The Party Space Place) and to our local host partners including Kentucky Wesleyan College, Owensboro Museum of Science and History, Theater Workshop of Owensboro, Daviess County Public Library, Black Expo, Brian and Janice Smith, WBKR, the Owensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau, our culinary partners: Mechanicsville Kitchen, The Cottage, Niko’s Bakery, The Miller House, Cecil Farms, and McHenry’s Event Planning.  

And massive thanks to the sponsors who made this weekend possible–Owensboro Health, the Marilyn & William Young Foundation, the Public Life Foundation of Owensboro, the Lawrence & Augusta Hager Educational Foundation, and our core funding partners: the National Endowment for the Arts, W.L. Lyons Brown Foundation, the Kentucky Arts Council, and as always to Art of the Rural, Appalshop,  and the RUX Steering Committee for making this work possible. You can view more photos from this Community Intensive on the KY RUX Facebook.

The RUX cohort looks forward to gathering again during the Third Weekend RUX alumni & network gathering in Carter Caves State Park in early August.

You can view more photos from this Community Intensive on the KY RUX Facebook. Photos by Taylor Killough and M. Tyler McDaniel.