MoCA Westport and the Westport Farmers’ Market (WFM) announce a new collaboration that will culminate in an exhibition entitled Between the Ground and the Sky on view August 27 – September 18, 2021.
Between the Ground and the Sky will feature photography from the Who Grows Your Food initiative, an intimate photographic journey celebrating the beloved farms and farmers associated with the Westport Farmers’ Market.
A Family Day featuring a range of farm-related activities will be held on Saturday, September 11 from 12 – 4 p.m. Explore the exhibition, enjoy delicious offerings from the Parlor, Bees Knees, and On The Fly food trucks, and listen to multi-instrumentalist Henry Jones. Tickets will be available for purchase on the MoCA Westport website (mocawestport.org) and the WFM website (westportfarmersmarket.com) as of August 1 for $10 per adult and $5 per child.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is more than 50 large-scale photographs, both color and black and white, of local farms by Anne Burmeister and Ashley Skatoff, two local accomplished photographers. The photographs tell a compelling and visually arresting story of the importance of local farms and farmers. The Who Grows Your Food initiative was developed by the Westport Farmers’ Market during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic as a means to educate people on the role that local farmers play in providing food for the community. The farms included are:
· Calf and Clover Creamery, Cornwall Bridge, CT
· Copps Island Oysters, Norm Bloom and Son, Norwalk, CT
· Dirt Road Farm, Weston, CT
· Fort Hill Farm, New Milford, CT
· Gilbertie’s Organics, Easton, CT
· Ideal Fish, Waterbury, CT
· Lost Ruby Farm, Norfolk, CT
· Muddy Feet Flower Farm, Ashford, CT
· Ox Hollow Farm, Roxbury, CT
· Riverbank Farm, Roxbury, CT
· Rose’s Berry Farm, Glastonbury, CT
· Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm, Old Lyme, CT
· Sea Coast Mushrooms, Mystic, CT
· Sport Hill Farm, Easton, CT
· Stonington Kelp Co., Stonington, CT
· The Hickories, Ridgefield, CT
· Wells Hill Farm, Weston, CT
· Woodland Farm, Glastonbury, CT
The exhibition will also include two site-specific installations by Kristyna and Marek Milde, and the natural, organic works of artist Donna Forma.
Kristyna and Marek Milde are a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist duo originally from Prague, Czech Republic. Their works explore environmental issues and the alienation of contemporary lifestyles. In their art practice, they create installations, in-situ interventions, and public art, functioning as immersive platforms for engagement and experience and connecting culture and nature.
Donna Forma is a Southport, CT-based artist known for her deconstruction and reconstruction of the components of deceptively simple natural forms, exposing the layers of complexity hidden in plain sight all around us.
Additionally, related works created by attendees of MoCA Westport’s Camp MoCA, a weekly summer camp for ages 3-13, will be on view. As part of the camp curriculum, campers will participate in a series of agriculture and gardening-related projects designed to build awareness of, and appreciation for, the role of farming in our community.
Lori Cochran, Director of the Westport Farmers’ Market, stated, “This program embodies the essence of our organizations. Bringing together art, education, community and knowledge of agriculture, featuring the hands that tend the land, results in more than a fun event – it creates an impact that will last a lifetime. Working with Anne and Ashley through their journey of these farms, it seemed only natural to find a home at MoCA Westport to share their stories.”
MoCA Westport Executive Director Ruth Mannes said of the collaboration, “Our expansive outside grounds are a perfect way to introduce our campers to agriculture and gardening. We are thrilled to partner with the Westport Farmers’ Market to share this important aspect of our economy and our lives with the public.”
Between the Ground and the Sky will be on view during MoCA Westport’s Summer and Fall 2021 Hours: Wed – Sun (12 – 4 p.m.). To learn more about the exhibition, contact Liz Leggett, MoCA Westport’s Director of Exhibitions, at liz@mocawestport.org or 203/222-7070. To learn more about the Who Grows Your Food initiative, contact Lori Cochran, Director of the Westport Farmers’ Market, at director@westportfarmersmarket.com.
More About The Photographers
Photographer Anne Burmeister is a farm kid from the Midwest. She has worked as an attorney and advocate for food security on both Coasts, but always with a camera close at hand. This project has allowed her to share her deep regard for farmers and the inherent beauty in their labors. Anne lives in Westport with her family where she is also on the board at Wakeman Town Farm.
Ashley Skatoff is a photographer based in Westport, CT. She worked as a business consultant in New York City prior to studying design at Parsons and starting a family. Largely self taught, Ashley pursues projects that express an authenticity in humanity and nature.
More About Donna Forma
Forma’s grandfather, a superb gardener, chemist and inventor, introduced her to the wonders of nature at a young age. She started out as a traditional carver of stone and wood, and often found herself transferring the beauty of human forms and rhythms with the natural world, and vice versa. Many of her pieces have the feel of something you might come upon while walking. They are types of shelters and hives, mimicking the human condition of what we do in life, making us feel we are somewhat in control, but not completely, as we do what we can to protect those we love. The National Sculpture Society elected her as one of only 179 Sculptor members, and awarded her the Lantz Award for Contemporary Sculpture in the Traditional Mode. Other awards include The Connecticut Commission on the Arts Fellowship, and top prizes at many group shows. Solo exhibitions include OK Harris (NYC), Flinn Gallery (Greenwich), Curtis Gallery (New Canaan), EBK Gallery (Hartford), and Five Points Gallery (Torrington). Her sculptures can be viewed by appointment in her studio and gallery in Southport, CT.
More About The Mildes
Kristyna and Marek Milde are Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artists duo originally from Prague, Czech Republic. Their works explore environmental issues and alienation of contemporary lifestyles. Mildes focus on deepening the awareness and relationship to place both private and public to reveal the wider and hidden context of everyday reality. In their art practice, they create installations, in-situ interventions and public art functioning as immersive platforms for engagement and experience connecting culture and nature.
The Mildes exhibit and present their work internationally in solo and group exhibitions including at Gallery G18, Zlin, CZ (2019), Westbeth Gallery, NYC (2019), Queens Museum, NYC (2018), Flux Factory, NYC (2018), Wave Hill, NYC (2017, 2014), Hudson Valley MoCA, Peekskill NY (2016); Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia (2015), EFA Project Space, NYC (2015), Smack Mellon Gallery, Brooklyn, (2014), Abrons Art Center, NYC (2013), DOX Center for Contemporary Art, Prague, Czech Republic (2013), Meet Factory, Prague, CZ (2013), Museum of Modern Art MoMA Studio, NYC (2012), Futura, Prague, CZ (2012), Karlín Studios, Prague, CZ (2012), Galerie Califia, Horazdovice, CZ (2011), NURTUREart, NYC (2011).
About the Westport Farmers’ Market
In June of 2006, Paul Newman and Michel Nischan planted a seed and we opened our doors in the parking lot of the Westport Country Playhouse. We were so proud of our 14 vendors, and so grateful for the 500 shoppers who showed up to support us.
In 2009, we moved to our current home at 50 Imperial Avenue, a stone’s throw from the Saugatuck River. With a little more space and a little more air, we began to put down roots. We started expanding our programming, and our role within the community.
By 2010, we welcomed winter by expanding our market to cover the colder months, too. Gilbertie’s Herb Garden embraced us with open arms, and before we knew it, the vendors and shoppers had doubled.
Today, boasting the accolade of the strictest guidelines in the state, the market is blooming with 45 vendors! Food trucks, GMO free vendors, organic farmers, pizza, yoga, chef demos, tamales, and an eager, hungry lunch crowd. We now welcome thousands of eager shoppers every week.
From the first seeds that were planted in 2006, we have grown, and blossomed. We remain committed to our initial goals — to provide fresh, local, healthy and seasonal food to our community. And we continue to aspire to create a fun, safe and healthy community environment that promotes education about local food, local farms, and sustainable, healthy growing practices.
About MoCA Westport
MoCA Westport is a non-profit visual and performing arts organization that has been a cornerstone of the Westport, Connecticut community for over 50 years. In 2019, MoCA Westport underwent a significant expansion in order to bring extensive programming to the local community and greater New York and New England regions.
In addition to hosting contemporary art exhibitions and performing arts events, The Academy at MoCA Westport provides academic, art enrichment, wellness, and day camps for children and adult learners year round.
MoCA Westport is thankful for the dedication of its generous donors and sponsors, including the Artur and Heida Hermanns Holde Foundation, Inc.; Bank of America Museums on Us; Beechwood Arts and Innovation; Bespoke Veterinary Services; Canine Company; Choice Pet; Cohen and Wolf; The Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation; The Dale & Laura Kutnick Foundation; Delamar Southport; Design Within Reach; Fairfield County Bank; 4th Row Films; First County Bank Foundation; Fourth & Pride Vodka; The Girlfriend Fund; Goldman Sachs; IBM; MediaCrossing; Daniel Edward Offutt, III; Provokr Inc.; SRI Fine Art Services; Wealthspire Advisors; Wells Fargo Bank; Wildbloom Skincare; WMNR Fine Arts Radio; WPKN; WSHU Public Radio Group. MoCA Westport operates with the support of the Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.