Civic Imagination Meets AI: How Bowling Green is Creatively Preparing for Rapid Growth

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 Paradox of Place: Making Sense of “Displaced Appalachia”

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.

Paddle Faster, I Hear Stereotypes: Breaking Down “Violent Appalachia”

“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.

Creatives Collaborate on Storytelling Journeys “By Any Media Necessary”

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.”

Fighting Back Against Backwardness: Understanding “Degraded” Appalachia

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.

Breaking Down Appalachian Stereotypes: How a Charity Episode of American Idol Turned Me Into a Media Scholar

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.

New Documentary Features Successful Magnet Program at Central High School

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.

Arts & Sciences, Civic Imagination, Innovation, Louisville RegionShannon HolbrookApril 11, 2024

Harry Pickens Explains the Paradox of “My Old Kentucky Home”

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.

Cultural Legacy, Arts & Sciences, Civic Imagination, StatewideMichael PhillipsJune 30, 2023

SEDONA DELANEY RESPONDS TO ‘STATE OF SONG’

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.

Cultural Legacy, Arts & Sciences, Civic Imagination, StatewideKentucky to the WorldJune 26, 2023

DAVID COOPER RESPONDS TO ‘STATE OF SONG’

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.

Cultural Legacy, Arts & Sciences, Civic Imagination, StatewideKentucky to the WorldJune 26, 2023

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