The Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange (RUX) will gather in Covington October 12-14 for a 2018 Northern Kentucky Community Intensive.
After the most competitive application process the program has seen to date, the RUX steering committee selected a 75-member 2018 cohort, which represents 25 counties and every region of the state. The 2018 cohort includes several members from the area, including residents of Campbell (Jim Guthrie), Owen (Jag Ashcroft), and Kenton (Chris Burns, Lauren Kallmeyer) Counties in Northern Kentucky. Northern Kentucky RUX alumni include Sarah Allan, Cate and Jay Becker, Tara Johnson, and Kim Popa.
The Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange program is known for helping rural and urban Kentuckians discover their common identity, history and culture. Over the two-year commitment, RUX brings leaders in the arts, agriculture, community development, health, and business together over six weeks. During these Community Intensives, we change the context of professional collaboration to help members deepen bonds, inspire stronger accountability, and create the conditions for innovation.
Now in its fifth year, this partnership between Art of the Rural and Appalshop has earned national acclaim in the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, US News and World Report, and national conferences such as Grantmakers in the Arts and the Community Development Society. The Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange (RUX) has served more than 200 Kentuckians from 42 counties since 2014, and will have been hosted in every region of the state by the end of 2018.
Jim Guthrie of Principal at Hub + Weber Architects serves on the RUX Steering Committee and is the primary host for the RUX Covington weekend, in collaboration with a Host Committee comprised of local community leaders who have worked to plan cultural experiences that showcase our unique culture and assets.
The Kentucky RUX network’s Covington experience is supported by The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. US Bank Foundation, Hub+Weber Architects, Amerasia, BLDG, the Carnegie Center for the Arts, the Center for Great Neighborhoods, Commonwealth Bistro, DevouGood, Fresh Lo Kitchen, and the Emergency Cold Shelter of Northern KY, and will work with a variety of area businesses and organizations.
Throughout the weekend, the RUX cohort will consider strategies for place-based programs that are developed with communities to best serve their needs and visions for the future. Two of the weekend’s programs welcome the public to meet the cohort, including a celebration of the 10th Anniversary of NKY Pride with an “NKY Fairness Dance and Drag Party” on Friday evening at 9 p.m. at BLDG, with music provided by Automagik and DJ Planet Venus.
On Saturday, from 2-5 p.m., the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange is partnering with the Kentucky Foundation for Women and the Kentucky Cultural Organizing Alliance to host a cultural organizing workshop at the Carnegie Center for the Arts. The workshop will feature several artists and community organizers from the Eastside Neighborhood, and discussion will focus on changing perspectives of “community” based on its evolution over time.
RUX 2018 gathered in Bowling Green and Horse Cave June 8-10, in Knott County August 3-5, and arrives in Covington Oct. 10-12. RUX is supported by Art of the Rural and Appalshop, RUPRI, regional host partners, the Kentucky Center for the Arts, Kentucky for Kentucky, the Haile Foundation, and dozens of Kentucky businesses. Past host communities include Harlan, Lexington, Louisville, Paducah, and Whitesburg.
To discover more about 2018 Kentucky RUX cohort, visit www.kyrux.org.
