Coming Home
When I first arrived in Louisville, I was filled with intrigue. This city, as every Kentuckian told me, is the 'Big City' of The Bluegrass State. A part of the country that, to me, had always carried a mystique for anyone not born within its borders. Not wholly southern like its cousin Tennessee, but not quite midwestern like its neighbor Illinois and the more well-known city of Chicago. Louisville is part of what many call the 'Rustbelt' of America, a former industrial powerhouse and steamship hub along the Ohio River that fell into despair after the post-industrial age came and went. Louisville has the foundations of a vibrant and historic city that shows the weathering of civil wars, societal unrest, and the urban decay of the 20th century, leaving many great cities hidden within the shadows of what they once were.
Yet, that is not what I see. I see a proud population of people who are determined to rebuild their home into something that carries the pride of the past and the hope for the future. Numerous projects are underway throughout the town as the local government and local organizers are adding new parks, renewing urban spaces, and encouraging business growth in the once-neglected downtown districts. Louisville is laying a new track on top of the old foundations that once ushered in the age of steel to the new frontier, hammering new spikes along the old skeletons of the sleeper tracks that remain from the men and women who first tamed the hills and forests that hug the site along the Ohio River.
As I witnessed this passionate stride towards a new dawn, I became curious about the people who chose to settle down here, so I began talking to the locals. The local 'Louisvillians' gleefully told me their stories and the various homes where those tales took place. Rivalries between schools, churches, and neighborhoods fuel a city that was once divided heavily into small towns, ending in 2003 with the City of Louisville absorbing most of the surrounding boroughs into the newly formed Louisville Metro. This is why Louisville can feel so diverse for a city of 600,000 residents that seems somewhat isolated by the Ohio River and the Appalachians to the East. You can find historic Victorian homes nestled within tight streets in Old Louisville, record stores, tattoo shops, and bars along the strip of Bardstown, quiet picturesque neighborhoods surrounding Cherokee Park, the emerald outdoor space of the city. And that's just a small sampling of Louisville’s personality.
With such a diverse population of experiences and nostalgic expressions, I believed there to be a genuinely unique culture underlying such varied perspectives and experiences. However, when I began to ask these people, I didn’t get much in terms of substance. It seemed to me that most people were proud of the bourbon that flows like the mighty Ohio or the horses and their races that thunder in the warmer months. For entertainment, many recommended gambling at the various casinos or racetracks that harken to Louisville’s booming prohibition era. But when I prodded for more on the arts, theatre, lectures, and museums, many became quite silent as they had no real experience with these other avenues.
It was a bit disheartening as more and more people I spoke to neglected to shine any light on what Louisville has to offer in terms of artistic expression; one might have begun to believe that the city simply had nothing to offer. However, it took some time and effort, but soon I had cracked the thin veil that separates the artists of the city from their fellow citizens. Traveling around the streets and avenues, I found a plethora of painters, musicians, chefs, and everything in-between trying to showcase what they had to offer from their unique Kentuckian perspectives. It was all here; independent creators began to show me their wares and share with me their struggles and triumphs living and working in the Bluegrass State.
As a new resident entering the fold, it seems that there is a disconnect between the people and the artists of the city, where many of the citizenry have no notion of how to access this culture or even how to begin to interact with it. Not everyone has time to delve into the art scene with responsibilities always weighing in the back of their minds. While there are hugely popular markets and festivals (e.g., Shakespeare in the Park, St. James Arts Festival, Logan Street Market) that showcase the various talents of Louisvillians, that excitement has a hard time spreading towards new markets and bringing in new people into the folds.
This is what we address at Lou Rae Riverside Arts & Events, and it makes up the soul of what we strive to do in our community. We are facilitating a space where people who might not normally interact with artists find common ground to explore various mediums that challenge them, within the historic backdrop of the building on 611 W. Main St. We cater to anyone and everyone who wants to explore what their city has to offer beyond what might lay on the surface. Movie nights, auctions, fashion shows, and more cater to the artists who want to share their visions and to the people of the city who deserve to know their neighbors and creators.
This Gallery and Event Center will only continue to evolve as we partner with locals to help bring light to those community builders who just need a bit of exposure and a shoulder to lean on as they develop their concepts and dreams. From the young to the old, Lou Rae wants to extend a hand in assistance so that this city can become a beacon to all creators who do not know how to ask for help or feel that their work is not 'good' enough for people to experience. Here, we uplift and reassure all who come within our doors to continue their growth in whatever form they decide to focus upon. Louisville is on the verge of a new Renaissance, and we are here to usher it into the “Neo-Rustbelt” age of progress and renewal for both the city and her people.