Community History Fellowships

Supporting Community

History

Supporting Community

History

2025 History Inspires Fellows

Meet Lori (she/her) 

Lori Larusso is an American visual artist working primarily with themes of domesticity and foodways. Her body of work encompasses paintings and installations that explore issues of class, gender, and anthropocentrism, and how these practices both reflect and shape culture. She embraces color as a carrier of spatial properties, and image as conduit for complex narratives. Visually rich elaborations of life-affirming subjects serve as purposeful symbols of specific time and place. Larusso’s work is exhibited widely in the US and is included in numerous public and private collections. 

 She has been awarded numerous residency fellowships including Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Sam & Adele Golden Foundation, Art + History Museums Maitland, chaNorth, and MacDowell where she received a Milton and Sally Avery Fellowship. She is a recipient of the Kentucky Arts Council’s Al Smith Fellowship, multiple grants from the Great Meadows Foundation and the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Larusso is the 2019 Kentucky South Arts Fellow and is the recipient of the 2020 Fischer Prize for Visual Art. She earned an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and a BFA from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP). She currently lives and works in Louisville, Kentucky and is represented by Galleri Urbane in Dallas, TX and Rubine Red in Palm Springs, CA.  

Larusso’s first solo museum exhibition, “A Paradox of Plenty,” will open in August 2025 at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Art in Little Rock 

Lori’s Project 

I am excited to expand my research on the intersections of food, culture, and identity through research on Kentucky foodways, including Cissy Greggs’ writing and H. Harold Davis’ iconic midcentury food photography. By examining materials from the Filson’s archives, including cookbooks, menus, and photographs, I will draw inspiration from the images and descriptions of foods and food preparation specific to the Ohio Valley. I anticipate this research resulting in a series of drawings,  paintings, and collages, interrogating how social norms and judgments shape our perceptions of food—its production, presentation, and consumption. It will also highlight the significance of cookbooks as personal artifacts, capturing handwritten notes, clippings, and signs of use. The resulting work will bring attention to the lives of those who cook and eat in the Ohio Valley, contributing to the broader conversation around food and culture. 

lorilarusso.com  

Headshot of Lori Larusso; part of the 2025 class of the History Inspires Fellowship

Meet Moria (she/her) 

Moria Magre has been making her own costumes and clothes since she was a child. Originally starting with costume recreation, she grew her skills and expanded her repertoire to be more about original designs. She currently lives in Louisville, KY where she operates a home studio, while also working as a tailor/paint instructor. Moria has been involved in numerous fashion shows and her love of textile work has brought her far and has high hopes to continue her work and show her unique style to the world.  

Moria’s Project 

My project is about fashion inspired by history: A History in Patterns. The goal of my project is to use old garments housed in the Filson, specifically those made before the modern paper pattern movement, virtually deconstruct them, and create patterns based on the clothing. The patterns made from the garments will be free to the public as well. Sewing patterns are the blueprints to make all clothes and in creating new patterns, this allows a revival for the old garments to be remade with modern technique. My project combines both new and old into a fabricated piece, that can be used not just by myself but others who visit the Filson too.   

https://www.deviantart.com/mines-of-moria/gallery/77737695/fashion 

Headshot of Moria Magre; part of the 2025 class of the History Inspires Fellowship

Meet Sarah (she/her) 

Sarah is a queer writer and artist from Louisville, KY by way of Appalachia. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in journals including Still: The Journal, The Anthology of Appalachian Writers, storySouth, riddlebird, Untelling, and Yellow Arrow Journal, and has been supported by the Kentucky Foundation for Women. She has two forthcoming chapbooks: where the bluegrass grows: June 1916 (Porkbelly Press) and Cat Lady: A Journey In American Sentences (3rd Place, Peter White Library 3-Day International Chapbook Contest). She is an alum of Bellarmine University, the University of Louisville, Tin House, and the Appalachian Writer’s Workshop.  

Sarah’s Project 

I am crafting a poetic manuscript that explores the fight for inclusive voting rights in the region using a docupoetic approach, a style which incorporates techniques including erasure, found poetry, collage, and poetic retellings of events. This work will showcase the history of voting rights and disenfranchisement, delving deep in to the Filson’s archives on women’s suffrage and the voting rights of people of color, and also using oral histories of folks with historic and family ties to the fight for inclusive voting rights, moving linearly to create a poetic timeline. By using docupoetic techniques, I will be able to preserve some of the exact phrasings used by our forebearers, while crafting a work that is accessible with an immediate, urgent voice. My hope for this project is to allow folks who might otherwise never engage with archival materials to have a chance to interact with the stories and history of this area. As an election clerk in Jefferson County, the right to free and open elections is something I hold dear, and I hope that this passion will be apparent in this project. 

Headshot of Sarah Pennington
Headshot of Lori Larusso; part of the 2025 class of the History Inspires Fellowship

Meet Lori (she/her) 

Lori Larusso is an American visual artist working primarily with themes of domesticity and foodways. Her body of work encompasses paintings and installations that explore issues of class, gender, and anthropocentrism, and how these practices both reflect and shape culture. She embraces color as a carrier of spatial properties, and image as conduit for complex narratives. Visually rich elaborations of life-affirming subjects serve as purposeful symbols of specific time and place. Larusso’s work is exhibited widely in the US and is included in numerous public and private collections. 

 She has been awarded numerous residency fellowships including Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Sam & Adele Golden Foundation, Art + History Museums Maitland, chaNorth, and MacDowell where she received a Milton and Sally Avery Fellowship. She is a recipient of the Kentucky Arts Council’s Al Smith Fellowship, multiple grants from the Great Meadows Foundation and the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Larusso is the 2019 Kentucky South Arts Fellow and is the recipient of the 2020 Fischer Prize for Visual Art. She earned an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and a BFA from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP). She currently lives and works in Louisville, Kentucky and is represented by Galleri Urbane in Dallas, TX and Rubine Red in Palm Springs, CA.  

Larusso’s first solo museum exhibition, “A Paradox of Plenty,” will open in August 2025 at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Art in Little Rock 

Lori’s Project 

I am excited to expand my research on the intersections of food, culture, and identity through research on Kentucky foodways, including Cissy Greggs’ writing and H. Harold Davis’ iconic midcentury food photography. By examining materials from the Filson’s archives, including cookbooks, menus, and photographs, I will draw inspiration from the images and descriptions of foods and food preparation specific to the Ohio Valley. I anticipate this research resulting in a series of drawings,  paintings, and collages, interrogating how social norms and judgments shape our perceptions of food—its production, presentation, and consumption. It will also highlight the significance of cookbooks as personal artifacts, capturing handwritten notes, clippings, and signs of use. The resulting work will bring attention to the lives of those who cook and eat in the Ohio Valley, contributing to the broader conversation around food and culture. 

lorilarusso.com  

Headshot of Moria Magre; part of the 2025 class of the History Inspires Fellowship

Meet Moria (she/her) 

Moria Magre has been making her own costumes and clothes since she was a child. Originally starting with costume recreation, she grew her skills and expanded her repertoire to be more about original designs. She currently lives in Louisville, KY where she operates a home studio, while also working as a tailor/paint instructor. Moria has been involved in numerous fashion shows and her love of textile work has brought her far and has high hopes to continue her work and show her unique style to the world.  

Moria’s Project 

My project is about fashion inspired by history: A History in Patterns. The goal of my project is to use old garments housed in the Filson, specifically those made before the modern paper pattern movement, virtually deconstruct them, and create patterns based on the clothing. The patterns made from the garments will be free to the public as well. Sewing patterns are the blueprints to make all clothes and in creating new patterns, this allows a revival for the old garments to be remade with modern technique. My project combines both new and old into a fabricated piece, that can be used not just by myself but others who visit the Filson too.   

https://www.deviantart.com/mines-of-moria/gallery/77737695/fashion 

Headshot of Sarah Pennington

Meet Sarah (she/her) 

Sarah is a queer writer and artist from Louisville, KY by way of Appalachia. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in journals including Still: The Journal, The Anthology of Appalachian Writers, storySouth, riddlebird, Untelling, and Yellow Arrow Journal, and has been supported by the Kentucky Foundation for Women. She has two forthcoming chapbooks: where the bluegrass grows: June 1916 (Porkbelly Press) and Cat Lady: A Journey In American Sentences (3rd Place, Peter White Library 3-Day International Chapbook Contest). She is an alum of Bellarmine University, the University of Louisville, Tin House, and the Appalachian Writer’s Workshop.  

Sarah’s Project 

I am crafting a poetic manuscript that explores the fight for inclusive voting rights in the region using a docupoetic approach, a style which incorporates techniques including erasure, found poetry, collage, and poetic retellings of events. This work will showcase the history of voting rights and disenfranchisement, delving deep in to the Filson’s archives on women’s suffrage and the voting rights of people of color, and also using oral histories of folks with historic and family ties to the fight for inclusive voting rights, moving linearly to create a poetic timeline. By using docupoetic techniques, I will be able to preserve some of the exact phrasings used by our forebearers, while crafting a work that is accessible with an immediate, urgent voice. My hope for this project is to allow folks who might otherwise never engage with archival materials to have a chance to interact with the stories and history of this area. As an election clerk in Jefferson County, the right to free and open elections is something I hold dear, and I hope that this passion will be apparent in this project. 

About the History Inspires Fellowship

History Inspires 

In recent years, the Filson has built connections with regional artists through donations and collaborative research, fostering creative projects. In 2023, the Filson launched the History Inspires Fellowship (HIF) to further strengthen these relationships by offering the Filson’s collections as a resource for artistic research and inspiration.  The fellowship invites all types of creative – visual artists, musicians, poets, quilters, dancers, and more – to submit proposals for projects that explore and utilize the Filson’s materials to create new works, fostering a deeper bond with the creative community. 

Check back for future application cycles!

In recent years, the Filson has built connections with regional artists through donations and collaborative research, fostering creative projects. In 2023, the Filson launched the History Inspires Fellowship (HIF) to further strengthen these relationships by offering the Filson’s collections as a resource for artistic research and inspiration.  The fellowship invites all types of creative – visual artists, musicians, poets, quilters, dancers, and more – to submit proposals for projects that explore and utilize the Filson’s materials to create new works, fostering a deeper bond with the creative community. 

Check back for future application cycles!

Past History Inspires Fellows

Project:  drew upon the Louisville Transit Company Records, survey plats, architectural records, streetcar photographs and maps to find imagery in the Filson collections. From these collections John conceived an animated short film about the connections created by and inherent in the streetcars that once tied together the streets and citizens of Louisville.

John Akre

Project: examined two common decorative practices, mosaic and quilting, and created versions of them that counter their traditional forms. Gathered inspiration from the patterns of the mosaic tile work featured in the Ferguson Mansion to design an article of clothing.  Studied the Filson’s extensive quilt collection to find inspiration to translate the designs into weather resistant glass mosaic panels.

Project: photo showcase using Filson collections to gain understanding of race relations in Louisville and the heyday of Walnut Street.

Zed Saeed

Project: utilize Filson archives to create a dance piece where individuals can experience the power of storytelling that is built through connecting the mind and body with movement.

Project:  drew upon the Louisville Transit Company Records, survey plats, architectural records, streetcar photographs and maps to find imagery in the Filson collections. From these collections John conceived an animated short film about the connections created by and inherent in the streetcars that once tied together the streets and citizens of Louisville.

John Akre

Project: examined two common decorative practices, mosaic and quilting, and created versions of them that counter their traditional forms. Gathered inspiration from the patterns of the mosaic tile work featured in the Ferguson Mansion to design an article of clothing.  Studied the Filson’s extensive quilt collection to find inspiration to translate the designs into weather resistant glass mosaic panels.

Project: photo showcase using Filson collections to gain understanding of race relations in Louisville and the heyday of Walnut Street.

Zed Saeed

Project: utilize Filson archives to create a dance piece where individuals can experience the power of storytelling that is built through connecting the mind and body with movement.

About the Community History Fellows

Community History Fellows

In 2021, the Filson received a seed grant from the Jewish Heritage Fund in Louisville to pilot an experimental new program called the Filson Community History Fellows Program (CHFP). Between April and September 2022 and 2023, two cohorts of six Community History Fellows—history advocates from diverse backgrounds and different parts of Louisville—met regularly at the Filson to explore topics and tools in historical research, documentation, and interpretation. Fellows used these methods in real time by developing individual history projects of enduring value to their home communities.

In 2021, the Filson received a seed grant from the Jewish Heritage Fund in Louisville to pilot an experimental new program called the Filson Community History Fellows Program (CHFP). Between April and September 2022 and 2023, two cohorts of six Community History Fellows—history advocates from diverse backgrounds and different parts of Louisville—met regularly at the Filson to explore topics and tools in historical research, documentation, and interpretation. Fellows used these methods in real time by developing individual history projects of enduring value to their home communities

Project: tell the land story of the West Louisville Women’s Collaborative as we change our name to the West End Women’s Collaborative; presenting pieces of Mariel’s research on our 8th of August Labyrinth walk in celebration of Kentucky’s Emancipation Day.

Mariel Gardner

Project: focused on the oral history collection of five individuals who have lived the majority of their lives in Okolona, Louisville, Kentucky. The oral histories were then honored through a technique developed by Marcos which is called ‘R0PAMEM,’ which is defined as the practice of clothing that carries memory. Each piece attempts to capture the essence of each oral history interview through photos, embroidery, reflective sew-on tape, and other fabric/clothing materials.

Marcos Morales

Project: examined the roots and subsequent transformations and manifestations of the Modern (19th and 20th century) Spiritualist movement as it occurred within the state of Kentucky. The research culminated in a special issue of Derby City Midnight, as well as a storytelling event with visual aids and music to help bring to life some of the compelling stories found.

Kat O'Dell

Project: Amy’s fellowship will include partnering with local Jewish organizations to facilitate small group conversations about the causes Suzy Post worked for including school desegregation, Title IX prohibiting sex discrimination in education, sheltering soldiers going AWOL during the Vietnam War, fighting for reproductive freedom, and forming the Metropolitan Housing Coalition to promote affordable housing.

Amy Shir

Project: tell the land story of the West Louisville Women’s Collaborative as we change our name to the West End Women’s Collaborative; presenting pieces of Mariel’s research on our 8th of August Labyrinth walk in celebration of Kentucky’s Emancipation Day.

Mariel Gardner

Project: focused on the oral history collection of five individuals who have lived the majority of their lives in Okolona, Louisville, Kentucky. The oral histories were then honored through a technique developed by Marcos which is called ‘R0PAMEM,’ which is defined as the practice of clothing that carries memory. Each piece attempts to capture the essence of each oral history interview through photos, embroidery, reflective sew-on tape, and other fabric/clothing materials.

Marcos Morales

Project: examined the roots and subsequent transformations and manifestations of the Modern (19th and 20th century) Spiritualist movement as it occurred within the state of Kentucky. The research culminated in a special issue of Derby City Midnight, as well as a storytelling event with visual aids and music to help bring to life some of the compelling stories found.

Kat O'Dell

Project: Amy’s fellowship will include partnering with local Jewish organizations to facilitate small group conversations about the causes Suzy Post worked for including school desegregation, Title IX prohibiting sex discrimination in education, sheltering soldiers going AWOL during the Vietnam War, fighting for reproductive freedom, and forming the Metropolitan Housing Coalition to promote affordable housing.

Amy Shir

Project: fellowship expanded historical tour to include each of the nine (9) West End neighborhoods to be traveled by walking, cycling, or bus.  The West End Neighborhoods Tours will educate individuals on the rich and varied history, people and places of each community, remove stigmas and barriers, and inspire a greater spirit of togetherness in our city of neighborhoods

Donovan Taylor

Project: fellowship served as an exploration of the relationship between Jewish people and the culture of traditional music in Appalachia.  Focused on studying this relationship, primarily through consideration of the work and reputation of John Cohen (1932-2019), a musician, photographer, and filmmaker.

Nathan Viner

Project: explored the intersections of land usage and Jewish communities through seed saving traditions.

Celebrating the Chickasaw Neighborhood’s Legacy (1940s-1970s): project utilized Filson collections for The Chickasaw Book Committee, which produced a historical coffee table book about the impressive and perhaps unknown history of the people, places, organizations, institutions, events, and activities that built and sustained generations of African American middle- and working-class families in the Chickasaw Neighborhood during the 1940s-1970s. 

Project: fellowship expanded historical tour to include each of the nine (9) West End neighborhoods to be traveled by walking, cycling, or bus.  The West End Neighborhoods Tours will educate individuals on the rich and varied history, people and places of each community, remove stigmas and barriers, and inspire a greater spirit of togetherness in our city of neighborhoods

Donovan Taylor

Project: fellowship served as an exploration of the relationship between Jewish people and the culture of traditional music in Appalachia.  Focused on studying this relationship, primarily through consideration of the work and reputation of John Cohen (1932-2019), a musician, photographer, and filmmaker.

Nathan Viner

Project: explored the intersections of land usage and Jewish communities through seed saving traditions.

Alayna Altman

Celebrating the Chickasaw Neighborhood’s Legacy (1940s-1970s): project utilized Filson collections for The Chickasaw Book Committee, which produced a historical coffee table book about the impressive and perhaps unknown history of the people, places, organizations, institutions, events, and activities that built and sustained generations of African American middle- and working-class families in the Chickasaw Neighborhood during the 1940s-1970s. 

Cheri Hamilton

Project: fellowship focused research on the Congregation Adath Jeshurun (AJ), one of Louisville’s most enduring Jewish institutions. Studied AJ’s participation in Black-centered pushes for social justice, taking as bookends the 1960s Civil Rights Era and the more recent movement for Black Lives to create the opportunity to consider how the Congregation has honored or fallen short of the AJ motto, “Open hearts, open minds”.

The Proof in the Pudding: A Recipe Book for Food Justice: project set to work compiling food recipes, images, and memories from West Louisville families into a recipe book that expands our understanding of the many roles food plays in communities, serving not only as sustenance but also as a means of gathering and joy.

Roots on the River: The Black Presence in Portland: project culminated in an exhibit at the Portland Museum. The exhibit explored, documented, and shared the rich history of Black families, institutions, and organizations in Louisville’s Portland Neighborhood.

The Black Gay Tymes: project created a collection of stories and interviews with urban, Black, LGBTQ+ people from Louisville, Kentucky.  Focused on creating space for the urban Black, Gay community to talk about their unique experiences and establish a place to document the Black Queer community of Louisville for future generations. 

Project: fellowship focused research on the Congregation Adath Jeshurun (AJ), one of Louisville’s most enduring Jewish institutions. Studied AJ’s participation in Black-centered pushes for social justice, taking as bookends the 1960s Civil Rights Era and the more recent movement for Black Lives to create the opportunity to consider how the Congregation has honored or fallen short of the AJ motto, “Open hearts, open minds”.

Jonathan Lippman

The Proof in the Pudding: A Recipe Book for Food Justice: project set to work compiling food recipes, images, and memories from West Louisville families into a recipe book that expands our understanding of the many roles food plays in communities, serving not only as sustenance but also as a means of gathering and joy.

Taylor Ryan

Roots on the River: The Black Presence in Portland: project culminated in an exhibit at the Portland Museum. The exhibit explored, documented, and shared the rich history of Black families, institutions, and organizations in Louisville’s Portland Neighborhood.

The Black Gay Tymes: project created a collection of stories and interviews with urban, Black, LGBTQ+ people from Louisville, Kentucky.  Focused on creating space for the urban Black, Gay community to talk about their unique experiences and establish a place to document the Black Queer community of Louisville for future generations. 

Talesha Wilson