In 2024, the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange (RUX) awarded over $65,000 in microgrants to creative leaders across KY. This funding provides RUX’s experienced, capable alumni and member network with the support they need to try new ideas and solve old problems through short-term projects that foster dialogue, connection, or collaboration among Kentuckians from disparate backgrounds, identities, or experiences.
Artists Respond: Community, Culture, and Commonality in the Commonwealth
KY RUX issued more than $35,000 in grant support for creative projects that address rural-urban connection, interdependence, or solidarity in Kentucky.
Eleven grants ranging between $1,000 to $4,000 will support Kentucky artists in leading these projects with communities across the Commonwealth.
Octavia Biggs, Shooting Stars Youtheatre & Hindman Settlement School (Lexington, KY, Fayette Co. / Hindman, KY, Knott Co.) will develop a devised performance art piece based on the children’s experiences of the July 2022 catastrophic flood in eastern Kentucky.
Dorothea A. Davis & Project Speak Life (Paducah, KY, McCracken Co. / Statewide) will develop the RESILIENCE documentary capturing the lives of women who sustain and uplift communities in the face of adversity.
Malcolm Davis & Affrilachian Arts Institute (Berea, KY, Madison Co. / Louisville, KY, Jefferson Co.) are organizing A Living History Showcase and Discussion for young adults in Louisville, uplifting two Affrilachian historical figures, and challenging the typical understandings of our region
Betty Dobson & Hotel Metropolitan (Paducah, KY, McCracken Co.) are creating a garden at the Hotel Metropolitan.
Ceirra Evans (Bath Co. / Statewide) will create a series of large paintings that tell stories of ritual in rural communities around weather, to be exhibited statewide.
Terri Foster, Louisville Youth Choir, & 4-H Treble Chorus (Louisville, KY, Jefferson Co. / Breckinridge Co.) will bring together youth singers for concerts in Jefferson County and Breckinridge County to perform together and share their own repertoire.
Carla Gover & Cowan Community Action Group (Lexington, KY, Fayette Co. / Whitesburg, KY, Letcher Co.) will organize the the "United We Stand: El Pueblo Unido" project to bring together young musicians from Fayette and Letcher Counties in Lexington, KY, for a day of workshops, music, dance, food, and stories.
Rheonna Thornton & Lipstick Wars (Berea, KY, Madison Co.) will organize the "In Bell We Trust" Poetry Slam, a celebration of the remarkable activist, author, and poet bell hooks while highlighting the voices of women and nonbinary students and residents.
Belle Townsend & Backwoods Literary Press (Louisville, KY, Jefferson Co. / Henderson Co. / Statewide) will document rural stories and expand urban and national understandings of rural culture through publications, a website, social media, and events.
Kathy Werking & On The Move Art Studio (Paris, KY, Bourbon Co.) will organize and tour an exhibition featuring visual art and literary work by incarcerated youth.
This round of microgrants was catalyzed by a partnership with the Creative Change Coalition, a new national coalition (led by Springboard for the Arts) of place-based organizations working together to create a stronger ecosystem for communities and artists. Support from the Kentucky Arts Council and Fund for the Arts allowed us to double that initial investment.
Intercultural Microgrant Program
KY RUX awarded 21 grants in its 2024 Intercultural Microgrant cohort.
These seed grants support teams of two or more individuals or organizations collaborating across distance, difference, or sector on projects that celebrate and connect Kentucky's people and places. Grantees and their respective funds include:
In memory of RUX Co-Founder Josh May, this grant fund supports diverse Kentuckians to collaborate on a musical project.
MURRAY - Wit’s End Records & Slough Water Records - Awarded a grant to purchase a digital mixer to record & document performances of regional LGBTQ+ artists and artists from other marginalized groups
In partnership with The Monument Workshop at UK, this fund seeks community-driven work designed to improve the monument landscape in Kentucky.
IRVINE - Jess Stevens & Mariel Gardner - Researching racial expulsions in Estill County and hosting relevant community sessions & an exhibition at the Museum at Kentucky Steam
LOUISVILLE - Kaira Tucker & Angela Brown - Gravestone conservation, workshops, & related zinemaking at Louisville Cemetery, focused on African-American musical & architectural artists
In partnership with the Kentucky Waterways Alliance (KWA), this fund seeks to invest in projects that clean up, improve access to, or offer education about Kentucky’s waterways.
CAMPBELLSVILLE - Shaelyn Bishop & Forever Green River, Inc. - River Readings program providing educational river ecology & conservation books to local schools
STANTON - Red Oaks Forest School - Scholarships for youth attending nature-based art therapy program focused on Appalachian & Indigenous storytelling & cultures
HYDEN - Kentucky Heartwood & Amy Richardson - Artist workshops centered on art, writing, and civic engagement surrounding areas of old growth in Daniel Boone National Forest
In partnership with the Kentucky Foundation for Women (KFW), this fund supports small, women-led projects that use arts, culture, or creativity to bridge geographic, racial, and economic divides in Kentucky or reduce political polarization.
BOWLING GREEN - Book of Sārîs & Hood to the Holler - Conversation series between transgender Kentuckians & rural churches about representations of gender & biological diversity in the Bible
LOUISVILLE - The Hope Buss - Holistic healing retreat for women across Kentucky, focused on mental health
LEXINGTON - Skylar Davis & Faulkner Morgan Archive - “We Exist” photography & audio recording project centering on diverse LGBTQ+ Kentuckians throughout the state
This fund supports projects that bring community members together across different ideologies or backgrounds to work together or solve a local challenge.
LEXINGTON - Sarah Baird & Chris Murray - Illustrated, multilingual zine celebrating the 100+ playgrounds of Fayette & surrounding counties for family education & civic engagement
RADCLIFF - Shauntrice Martin & Iniejah Allen Jr - Rural-urban policy debate league for youth
LEXINGTON - Deborah Slone & Sandi Curd - Bridging Kentucky’s STEM Communities: A Summit for Learning & Collaboration gathering rural and urban STEM professionals from across Kentucky
Artist-led projects generating economic impact in Eastern KY
This fund invests in projects that engage Eastern Kentucky artists with individuals or organizations from the Kentucky RUX Network to collaborate across distance, difference, or sector on projects that celebrate and connect Kentucky's people and places and promote economic impact.
HAZARD - Stacie Fugate, Ryan Combs, Tamara Russell, Dee Parker, & InVision Hazard - Uncovering family histories of diverse Kentuckians in Hazard, with a multimedia exhibition in the Bobby Davis Museum & Park
WHITESBURG - Mark Kidd, Renew Appalachia, & Statewide Multimedia Artists - The Commonwealth Cushaw Project with culinary & agricultural heritage workshops celebrating Kentucky’s food, cultures, and the natural world
LOUISVILLE - McKinley Moore & Honky Talkin’ - Bringing Eastern KY artists to Louisville for Honky Talkin’ podcast & performances
HARLAN - Susan Liv Petty-Taylor & Vickie Smith - Rural-urban women storytelling gatherings & community-based magazine
WILLIAMSBURG - Angelika Weaver & Shana Goggins - "Imperfect Allies: A Kentucky Women's Guide to Social Justice Activism" zine & toolkit
A nationally-celebrated creative leadership program using place-based cultural exchange to develop the skills, networks, and capacity of rural and urban leaders to bridge divides and make change.
