FARM ART DTour

How can art encourage lasting conversations between rural farmers and visitors from the city?

Overview

The Farm/Art DTour is a fifty mile self-guided tour through the countryside of Sauk County, WI, that connects rural and urban communities through the arts. Prior to the DTour’s genesis, the region lacked a way to bridge the disconnect between local agricultural businesses and urban consumers seeking to understand sustainable food production. Wormfarm Institute spearheaded the Farm/Art DTour in collaboration with various Sauk County governments to commission artists, local farmers, brewers, cheesemakers, and other small businesses.

Community NARRATIVE

The rolling hills of Sauk County, located in southwestern Wisconsin with a population density of 73 people per square mile, have allowed the community to maintain the small, family owned agricultural practices that have slowly vanished across much of the United States. Developing a strong economic base in support of both agricultural and commercial industries has supported a growing permanent population and seasonal tourism industry. This tourism industry prospers not just because of the area’s scenic beauty, family farms, breweries and orchards, but because of the region’s well known reputation for sustainable production practices and the arts.

The Vision

With an understanding that farmers and artists have creation in common, Wormfarm formed a vision for farm-based ephemeral art installations and roadside Culture Stands; an exploration of the ever-evolving connections between people and land. This didactic exercise in arts-based engagement served to bridge the existing disconnect between farm families trying to maintain their agricultural business in a hypercompetitive farming economy and urban visitors looking for a means to more deeply connect with food.

The Project

Farm/Art DTour is a biennial component of the Fermentation Fest, a larger scale Wormfarm Institute initiative in the area. Large scale art installations, pasture performances, poetry, and educational signage comprise the DTour. By blending art installations and artistic performances with educational activities DTourists are able to educate themselves about the agricultural industry in a unique and interactive way.

Critical Success Factors

• NEA Funding. A $35,000 grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts will make this year’s Farm/Art DTour possible.

• Commitment to Conversation. Wormfarm Institute not only fosters a relationship between rural farmers and urban consumers, they rely on community voices in the planning of each DTour. For example, Wormfarm met with community boards when deciding to relocate this year’s DTour.

Funding and Budget

• The National Endowment for the Arts, ArtPlace America, Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts and the Educational Foundation of America all provide financial support for the DTour.

• DTour is part of the Fermentation Fest, which also relies on sponsors and donations. For example, Farm Aid will sponsor live musical performances at the festival.

• The Wormfarm Institute distributes funding in $2500 or $5000 commissions for the 6-8 main installations.

Community Engagement

Organized through the notion of fermentation as a process of transformation and abundance - applicable to both farming and community engagement practices - the project’s primary leads Donna Neuwirth and Jay Salinas act as two voices among many. Their work is seen as a larger “social sculpture” of project team members, advisors, and participating artists, farmers, brewers, cheesemakers and local businesses.

Logistics

• Farm/Art DTour operates as the featured event of Fermentation Fest, a “live culture convergence” for 2 weekends in early October. 

• In 2018 the Wormfarm Institute decided to make Farm/Art DTour a biennial event. The larger time frame allows Wormfarm access to a greater pool of artists as well as the ability to foster a deeper range of community connections.

Roles and Partners

• The City. Sauk County, as Wormfarm’s government partner, provided staff through the County Extension office who served as a link with the farm community and helped the project team to navigate the regulatory issues of signage permits, trespassing ordinances, and the myriad of other details that had to be in place to run a successful festival.

• Artists. Artists facilitate the creation of ‘edge environments,’ both literal and conceptual, through collaborative installations. In ecology, edge environments are places of meeting, characterized by increased levels of hardiness and diversity. The artists bring visitors into Sauk County and invite them to build relationships with and learn from local farmers, fermenters, brewers, and cheesemakers.

Impacts and Outcomes

• Short Term. The first DTour attracted over 4,200 tourists, with seasonal profits for many family owned businesses increasing over 300%.

• Long Term. The 2020 Farm tour will be relocated to Sauk Prairie so that communities and initiatives such as the Great Sauk State Trail, the Badger Army Ammunition Plant, and Sauk Country’s ‘One Sauk Naturally’ plan could reap the benefits of such an event. Wormfarm intends to relocate the tour every three years. The DTour is responsible for a growing number of tourists to the region: from 4,200 participants in 2010 to an expected 30,000 in the fall of 2020 or 2021.

• Unexpected. While farmers originally self-relegated themselves to the outskirts of the arts projects, they have since embraced the opportunities the DTour provides them to showcase their artistic skills and the farmlands their families have cultivated.

Lessons Learned

• Ephemeral events have the capacity to create long term impacts.

• Interactive artworks can foster conversation between distinct groups.

References

Dynes, Erica. “Farm/Art DTour Will Move to Sauk Prairie.” Reedsburg Times-Press. 15 Oct. 2019.

“Farm/Art DTour.” Exploring Our Town, National Endowment for the Arts.

Stanek, Heather. “Fermentation Fest Undergoes Changes.” Reedsburg Times-Press. 24 Mar. 2017.

“The Wormfarm Institute History.” The WormFarm Institute.