Stories of Place and Mutual Care is an intergenerational, cross-regional storytelling program that focuses on the special places that shape community life in Central Appalachia. We aim to build civic space and community engagement through storytelling, other forms of creative expression, and coming together over a shared commitment to elevating diverse voices both in Appalachia, across the region, and beyond.
This is an important thread tying together all of LiKEN’s work even if it does not always address many issues directly, because Stories of Place creates a space for building relationships across social and political divides as well as across generations.
Woodland Arts of Central Appalachia
Woodland Arts of Central Appalachia is a LiKEN Stories of Place project that, with support from Mid-Atlantic Arts and in partnership with Friends of the Tug Fork and the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, seeks to identify place-based arts and practitioners whose work uses and celebrates products of the woodlands surrounding the headwaters of the Tug Fork. The initiative will produce a roster of art forms and practitioners to participate in public programs and events, offering opportunities to workshop, showcase, and market woodland products throughout the region.
Stories of Place Martin County
Youth and elders in Appalachia share photos, memories and visions of the future, story-catching about the special landscapes of the Central Appalachian plateaus—the forests, coves, waterways, and species that shape mountain life - and the events of their lives. Creating artworks such as collage, painting, and poetry help students and others tell their stories of place.