I was lucky enough to find myself in Louisville, Kentucky, recently, and the city was full of the most positive contradictions: dignified, quirky, unpretentious and aware of history but not bound by it. Every May, on the first Saturday of the month for the last 138 years, Louisville has been on view to the world, thanks to the Derby founded by the grandson of explorer William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame. I was taken with the city’s storied past, locavore culture and can-do-will-do spirit. Here, my favorite pieces of Louisville—objects either made in the city or inspired by its plucky charm.