Kentucky to the World Stories
Blog
On August 1, 2026, a beloved community building in Prestonsburg, KY that had sat vacant for over a decade opened its doors for a new era.
As the U.S. commemorates its 250th anniversary of independence in 2026, organizations across the nation are celebrating the people, places, and events that make up our country’s shared history. That’s certainly the case at Kentucky to the World, which is proud to honor the legacy of our Commonwealth. See some of the ways KTW - and Kentuckians at large - celebrate America250 below.
I grew up in a bubble. I didn’t get out much. In high school especially, I was the kind of kid that just wanted to play Call of Duty online with my friends more than the kid who went to football games and took part in extracurricular activities. But before that, I spent my childhood in the woods. Summers were spent next to Lake Cumberland in Somerset, right on the border of Nancy, with frequent trips in the fall to Haney’s Appledale Farm and Bear Wallow Farm. I played with neighborhood friends in abandoned trailer parks with double wides toppled over hills. Froze my feet off in treestands hunting in Campbellsville with my Grandad. Sat on a dead log housing a seed tick nest while chasing squirrels. Had front yard reunions with my Mom’s mom’s side of the family in Flemingsburg, and the Daulton family Christmas in my Aunt’s garage.
This story begins in Los Angeles at Paramount Recording Studios. “It’s not quite right,” I explain to my co-writers. “It needs more authenticity to it. I want people to hear this opening line and feel like they’re actually in the car with me, traveling from Kentucky to Los Angeles.” I’ve been awaiting this moment for a few weeks now, the day that we finally started working on a new album - and genre - that honors my experience as a Korean American from Kentucky: K-BELLE, a blend of my Korean and Southern Belle identities.
When I moved to Louisville, the last thing I was expecting was the opportunity to pursue something I’d only ever considered a hobby. Despite my overwhelming insistence on becoming a lawyer or an astronaut at the age of twelve, the Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS) encouraged me to embrace a part of myself that has undoubtedly shaped me into the person I am today.
On a summer evening in Louisville, a wrestling ring stood in a space usually reserved for quiet contemplation. Beneath the clean lines of the Speed Art Museum, the ropes were pulled tight and the mat stretched flat. As wine glasses clinked and a crowd of gallery-goers took their seats, the atmosphere was one of polite curiosity.
Then the bell rang.
LaVelle Smith Jr. has been many things in his life: a Kentuckian, a dancer, a choreographer, an Angeleno, the mind behind some of pop music’s most iconic dances, the person who performed onstage with Beyoncé at the Grammys. But the one thing he’s never been? Afraid.
On October 9, 2024, Kentucky to the World hosted the Premiere of A Pathway Forward, a documentary following Central High School Law and Government Magnet sophomores through a year of innovative instruction. Over a year later, the film’s message continues to resonate far beyond the school’s walls.
The heartbeat of American baseball isn’t found in a stadium - it’s forged in a factory in Louisville, Kentucky. And a new film by Kentucky to the World’s Director of Strategic Planning and Documentary Film, Tommy Johns, shares the story behind baseball’s most iconic bat.
Fall has always carried a certain magic: a creative pulse that hums through Kentucky’s hills and city streets. It’s the season when the air sharpens, colors ignite, and ideas start to take shape. For Kentucky to the World (KTW), fall isn’t just a time of transition. It’s a reminder of why we do what we do. This is the season of creativity, excitement, and momentum.
Coming to Louisville was never part of the plan for Dr. Ajmal Zemmar. But then again, neither was his biggest scientific breakthrough.
Evelyn R. Gregory is a Cinematography and Video Production educator based in Louisville, KY. She earned her undergraduate film degree from the historic Alabama A&M University and holds both a Master of Fine Arts and a Master of Science while residing and teaching in Kentucky. She describes herself as “just a kid from Cleveland with a passion for storytelling.”
Appalachia is not a monolith.
It’s a sentiment shared time and time again, from news organizations centered on the Black experience in West Virginia to works of fiction based in the reality of growing up Indigenous in North Carolina. Over 20% of the Appalachian population is nonwhite - including Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous folks, as well as many other races and ethnicities - and the region has become increasingly diverse since 2010. And yet, mainstream representations of the region almost always look the same: white.
Allen Sarven ran away with the circus at age 18 and never looked back. At least, that’s how he sees it.
Born in northwestern Ohio, Al was captivated from a young age by the idea of becoming a professional wrestler. As a teenager, he maintained a monthly ritual of calling up every major wrestling promotion he could find and asking for a shot at training with them. Each month, they said no. And each month, he called them again.
Known largely as the country’s sole manufacturer of the Corvette and home of Western Kentucky University (WKU), Bowling Green is also one of the largest and fastest-growing cities in Kentucky. Founded in 1798, the city and its surrounding Warren County are projected to double in size to 233,000 by 2050.
To prepare, its leaders are collaborating and adopting new strategies for sustainable and inclusive growth. One initiative, a pilot program called the BG2050 Project (BG2050), uses civic imagination and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop a 25-year vision to guide this anticipated growth.
The fall after I turned 18, I moved from my hometown in Pikeville to the town of Bowling Green for college. The drive was less than five hours, an easy trip down the Cumberland Parkway anytime I needed a weekend at home. But despite being within state lines, and a mere one county outside what the ARC designates as the Appalachian region, something about Bowling Green felt like I had dropped onto a different planet.
Civic Imagination (CI) Incubator is a partnership between Western Kentucky University's (WKU) Potter College of Arts and Letters, its Innovation Campus and the University of Southern California (USC). “The program originated out of media fandom,” says Sam Ford, the Executive Director of AccelerateKY and Board Chair of Kentucky to the World. “How do people react to pop culture stories, social issues, civic issues, politics? They were using fictional worlds to tell stories in Appalachia. … This is a natural partnership. We’re matching content with an outlet.”
The one I noticed the most by far is a trope I’ve come to call Degraded - the idea that Appalachians are primitive, degenerate, and destitute. Sometimes, these images are meant to be funny; others, deadly serious. In all cases, Appalachians are positioned as a society wholly separate from the rest of the world - a group that is other.
It became clear to me at a young age that stories were how we learned about and connected with each other. They were a source of joy, remembrance, wisdom, and humor. But as I grew up, I realized that stories can have a dark side - especially when they’re used against you.
The next time you think about what is synonymous with our great state, don’t forget to throw professional wrestling in the mix. Kentucky is woven into the fabric of this great and entertaining brand of sports entertainment.
Acting as illustrator, animator, painter, color stylist, and color supervisor for shows ranging from The Simpsons to Rick and Morty, Carol Wyatt has adapted her approach over 35 years to cement her status as an authority in visual media.
A Pathway Forward tells the story and celebrates the success of Central High School’s Law and Government Magnet Program through the eyes of current students and alumni. Directed by award-winner Jesse Nesser, founder of Overseas Cowboy Films, and KTW, it provides a model for other legal communities to adopt, adapt, and sustain.
As one of the head arrangers and Assistant Music Director for the Whiffenpoofs, the world’s oldest a cappella group, Jake Latts is “so excited to be bringing the group to Louisville.”
An unwavering motivation to debunk stereotypes and offer unexpected perspectives has been consistent in Desi Lydic’s work as a correspondent on The Daily Show. It was because of this commitment that she was asked to host last Spring. “It was really a total dream come true to even get that opportunity to do it for even a brief moment,” she told KTW. But after nine years at The Daily Show, it feels like she’s just getting started.
As she gets ready for the international pageant in October, she aims to maintain the momentum she’s carried all year. And after considering how she got here and who helped her along the way, her chances this Fall are as high as her potential.
In an exclusive interview with Kentucky to the World, he shares how our culture’s devotions to artifacts like “My Old Kentucky Home” can be viewed as a symptom of a much larger problem – and how an educational refocusing can respond to it.
As I grew, studied history and became passionate about learning Louisville’s vast and interesting past, I realized that the world of The Stephen Foster Story was not all pretty dresses and romance. It was unbelievably dark in ways we cannot truly imagine.
The truth is that American exceptionalism is a lie. Moreover, for Kentuckians, the song “My Old Kentucky Home” and the play about its writer, The Stephen Foster Story, in Bardstown are lies, too.
As the Kentucky Derby approaches viewers across the nation will hear the controversial state song, “My Old Kentucky Home,” which has been part of the Derby Day traditions since the 1920s. As a rebuttal to the state song, Louisville-based non-profit Kentucky to the World presents “Home,” a poem by local spoken word poet, Hannah Drake, that serves as a compelling response to the Kentucky state song.
“Paddle faster, I hear banjos.”
In the early 2010s, this phrase felt like it was on a t-shirt in every store I walked into. Usually, it was accompanied by stick figures or silhouettes of people in a canoe. Other times the shirt inexplicably featured popular TV characters like Family Guy’s Brian and Stewie. Regardless, the phrase showed up enough that 15-year-old me took notice. And despite never having seen the film these shirts referenced, I could sense that they were mocking someone - someone who kind of felt like me.