Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology News

The grand opening of a new exhibit at the Kentucky Museum, The Farmer Cultural Awareness Project, is being held on January 26 from 4-6 pm, with remarks at 4:30 pm. This exhibit provides the public with first-person accounts of the experiences and perspectives of farmers in their own communities by showcasing the cultural aspects of farming that individual farmers want the non-farming public to better understand. Twenty-seven farmers from a 10-county BRADD region of south central Kentucky were interviewed for the exhibit.  

The Farmer Cultural Awareness Project was designed to address the public’s perception of farmers/farming. The project was a collaborative effort among Western Kentucky University (WKU) faculty and staff from the School of Nursing and Allied Health, the Department of Folk Studies & Anthropology, and the South Central KY Area Health Education Center (AHEC).

The project is one component of a statewide initiative titled Raising Hope: Supporting Healthy Lives on Kentucky Farms, funded by the Kentucky Legislature and administrated by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. 

Free parking for the opening is available in the "Kentucky Building Lot" adjacent to the Kentucky Museum and in the "Kentucky Museum Lot" across the street. 

The exhibit will remain open through Friday, February 16, 2024, during normal Kentucky Museum hours, 9 am to 4 pm, Wednesday through Saturday.  Admission to the Museum is free for all visitors.

For more information contact Susan Jones at susan.jones@wku.edu.

Raising Hope is a grant-funded initiative supported by appropriations from the Kentucky General Assembly with academic and government coalition members. The mission of the Raising Hope coalition is to promote the physical and mental health and safety of Kentucky’s farmers and farm families. For information about Raising Hope, visit raisinghopeky.com/