Upcoming Events
Photo by Irene Soloway
Ramps-U-Pick with Delaware Valley Ramps
Delaware Valley Ramps - U Pick!*
Ramps are the first green sign of spring, highly valued for their taste as a cross between garlic and onions. Delaware Valley Ramps of Equinunk, PA has been harvesting sustainably on thier property for 17 years. Join them at their annual Ramps-U-Pick Event!
*Each individual ticket sold through this website will generate $10 for Farm Arts Collective! Thank You Delaware Valley Ramps!
Alice in ScienceLand
Alice In ScienceLand - A fun, musical, natural sciences spin on ALICE IN WONDERLAND
A young science student named Alice falls asleep while studying for a science exam. Suddenly, a white rabbit appears and assumes the role of her tutor. White Rabbit takes Alice on a magical journey to meet a host of characters that include Cilly, a singing microbe on a compost pile, a mysterious dancing Fungus, a sickly Atmosphere, and the stormy Hydrosphere. At each encounter she learns new scientific information from an environmental perspective. Alice returns home ready to take her test. A fast-paced, music performance for children ages 5-12 that delivers science & art in an entertaining manner. Following each performance there will be a Q & A with retired NASA scientist, Elaine Matthews. Performers: Pam Arnold (Foley), Jess Beveridge (Alice), Ginny Hack (Fungus), Annie Hat (Cilly), Tannis Kowalchuk (White Rabbit), Doug Rogers (Atmo).
Science Cabaret
Science Cabaret: An Evening of Neuroscience and Performance
In collaboration with medical researchers at Mount Sinai, Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Farm Arts Collective presents an evening of science talks and performances on the topic of mental health. Six clinical neuroscientists from the Waters Lab will each prepare a brief presentation of their most cutting-edge research in neurotechnology and mental health treatment. Presentations are in the form of a “flash talk,” the style of science communication popularized by TED. Each scientist is paired with one performer from the Farm Arts Collective ensemble who will use the flash talk as inspiration for a new performance artwork. The lively evening will explore themes unearthed by current advances in neuroscience research such as: cyborgification - the promise of brain implants to treat severe depression and OCD; the transformation of ketamine from party drug to medical treatment for depression; how neurotechnologies might deepen your sleep and slow diseases of aging. Following the presentation we will have a conversation with farm fresh food.
Juneteenth Celebration
Annual Juneteenth Celebration
Farm Arts Collective will present its 3rd annual Juneteenth Celebration, a national holiday that marks the end of slavery in the United States. Curated and performed by an ensemble of local black artists, musicians, writers, educators, and activists, the FREE community event features headline performances of Oliver King’s rendition of poetry by Langston Hughes, a collective conversation with historian and journalist Janus Adams, and a reading by Tassa Faronii. Participants include Adrienne Jensen, Robin Grey Wolf, Ashtyn Buckley, and more. The event will also feature a spread of soul food made with recipes from the participants’ families and prepared by the Farm Arts Collective chef team.
Entangled Harmonies with Willow Gatewood
Entangled Harmonies: Exploring the ecologies around us through biosonification and environmental music-making
In this workshop, interdisciplinary artist and musician Willow Gatewood will guide participants in biosonification --the basics of recording biodata from plants and turning it into music. Explore how art and technology act as a portal to connecting with the ecosystems in which we entangle. * Participants are asked to bring a laptop or phone (and adapter for a USB if needed) if they have one. Spares are available but limited. In the fields of Willow Wisp Organic Farm, participants will make field recordings with objects and plants to create instruments and music. Participants will leave with a song and guide for further exploration. Willow Gatewood is an environmental scientist, interdisciplinary artist, and musician from endless hills and secluded forests of rural Virginia. Grounded in research, their practice includes recycled and bio-based visual art, words, sound, and biosonification (turning processes within living organisms into music and sound). To find out more about their art, visit https://willowgatewood.com or instagram, @willowg_music.
Cover Crops with Greg Swartz
Cover Crops with Greg Swartz
Join farmer Greg Swartz of Willow Wisp Organic Farm for a farm tour and lively conversation surrounding cover crops. Food and refreshments provided.
“As farmers, we take the long view that while growing food, we should always be improving our soil, increasing the farm’s biodiversity (above ground and below), and contributing to our community. We do this by using cover crops, crop rotation, and creating insect and wildlife habitat. We use no pesticides, herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers and we are Certified Organic by NOFA-NY Certified Organic, LLC.”
Greg Swartz leads overall operations on Willow Wisp Organic Farm. He has been farming in the Upper Delaware River Valley since 2000. After seven years as an apprentice on local farms including Wild Roots Farm, Apple Pond Farm, and Gorzynski Ornery Farm, he and Tannis Kowalchuk bought their first farm. In the first couple of years of building the farm, Greg was the Executive Director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY). He then returned to full-time farming and hasn’t slept much since. In 2015 Willow Wisp Organic Farm moved 5 miles down the road to the banks of the Delaware River. This new farm has allowed a tripling in production. Greg’s goals are to grow high-quality food, improve the farm ecosystem, and employ as many people as possible to show that farming can be and should be the key to economic development in our region.
Lenape Horticulture & Ethnobotany
Lenape Horticulture & Ethnobotany
Chief Shelley DePaul presents an expansive workshop on her research and knowledge of Lenape horticulture, conservation landscaping, and medicinal plant practices. Shelley De Paul sits on the Council of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania as Clan Mother, Keeper of Language and Treaty Signer Liaison. Shelley has published Three books: Conversations in the Lenape Language, Ethnobotany of the Lenape People and Other Eastern Tribes Book One: Herbs and Flowers and Book Two: Trees, Nuts, and Berries. As treaty-signers with the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, Farm Arts Collective and Willow Wisp Organic Farm are pleased to welcome Chief Shelley back to the farm in friendship and solidarity with the tribe’s important work.
Proceeds from this workshop with go to The Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania.
Family Farm Day
Family Farm Day
Join us on Willow Wisp Organic Farm for our FREE annual Family Farm Day! Bring the whole family and learn more about organic farming, join a led tour of our greenhouses, vegetable and flower fields. See how Willow Wisp Organic Farm continues the agricultural legacy in a region with a long history of farming. Group tours at 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm. The day will also include Performances, Face Painting, Games, Cooking Demos and other fun events for the whole family. Remember to wear those farm boots!
Flower Workshop
Flower Workshop
The day begins with coffee at the barn followed by a led tour by Willow Wisp flower farmers, Tannis Kowalchuk and Jess Beveridge. The attendees will visit the annual and perennial flower fields and learn best practices in growing cut flowers, our favorite varieties, and tips on post-harvest methods. Participants should bring their own clippers (provided if unavailable). Each participant will select and cut their own flowers from an acre of over 35 varieties of annuals and perennials. The workshop group will then return to the barn for an arranging session with instructions on flower design choices that consider color, shape, texture, and stem placement to build a dynamic and gorgeous arrangement. Participants take home their flower designs.
Alice in ScienceLand at Farm Arts Collective
Alice in ScienceLand - A science spin on Alice in Wonderland for all ages
A young science student named Alice falls asleep while studying for a science exam. Suddenly, a white rabbit appears and assumes the role of her tutor. White Rabbit takes Alice on a magical journey to meet a host of characters that include Cilly, a singing microbe on a compost pile, a mysterious dancing Fungus, a sickly Atmosphere, and the stormy Hydrosphere. At each encounter she learns new scientific information from an environmental perspective. Alice returns home ready to take her test. A fast-paced, music performance for children ages 5-12 that delivers science & art in an entertaining manner. Following each performance there will be a Q & A with retired NASA scientist, Elaine Matthews. Performers: Pam Arnold (Foley), Jess Beveridge (Alice), Ginny Hack (Fungus), Annie Hat (Cilly), Tannis Kowalchuk (White Rabbit), Doug Rogers (Atmo).
General Admission is $15 per person. Children 5 & under are FREE.
Dream on the Farm "Conference for Those Still Living"
Dream on the Farm "Conference for Those Still Living"
A group of international people are summoned by their mutual friend Benjamin, a world-class ornithologist who has organized a retreat to discuss Climate Change. His guests include artists, scientists, and activists—a mixed lot from around the world. When the ornithologist does not show up at his own conference, the event is disrupted, and a mystery ensues as to his whereabouts. As the attendees try to navigate the conference in the absence of their friend, the anxiety for Benjamin’s suspicious disappearance parallels their own anxiety about climate change and disappearing life on earth. The conference becomes something nobody quite expected. This is play #5 of Farm Arts Collective’s decade-long climate change series called DREAM ON THE FARM. Conference for Those Still Living is an immersive and site-specific play. The audience will also be conference delegates and are invited to immerse in the conference experience. Like all DREAM ON THE FARM shows, the performance concludes with a shared meal to offer space (and nourishment) to continue the conversation inspired by the performance.
Like all DREAM ON THE FARM shows, we will conclude with a shared farm meal with our audience to offer space and nourishment in order to continue the conversation inspired by the evening’s performance.
We believe that Climate Change is the greatest local and global issue of our time. As rural artists, we are compelled to address this issue as it affects everyone, especially the most vulnerable. We have told many stories in the DREAM ON THE FARM series. In fact, we are at the mid-point of this decalogue.
We have observed that art has a profound way of addressing climate change. No other medium can deliver the same impact as live story, music, and theatre. We aim to offer our community an artful message that will hopefully inspire action and ideas for bettering our community.
Dream on the Farm "Conference for Those Still Living"
Dream on the Farm "Conference for Those Still Living"
A group of international people are summoned by their mutual friend Benjamin, a world-class ornithologist who has organized a retreat to discuss Climate Change. His guests include artists, scientists, and activists—a mixed lot from around the world. When the ornithologist does not show up at his own conference, the event is disrupted, and a mystery ensues as to his whereabouts. As the attendees try to navigate the conference in the absence of their friend, the anxiety for Benjamin’s suspicious disappearance parallels their own anxiety about climate change and disappearing life on earth. The conference becomes something nobody quite expected. This is play #5 of Farm Arts Collective’s decade-long climate change series called DREAM ON THE FARM. Conference for Those Still Living is an immersive and site-specific play. The audience will also be conference delegates and are invited to immerse in the conference experience. Like all DREAM ON THE FARM shows, the performance concludes with a shared meal to offer space (and nourishment) to continue the conversation inspired by the performance.
Like all DREAM ON THE FARM shows, we will conclude with a shared farm meal with our audience to offer space and nourishment in order to continue the conversation inspired by the evening’s performance.
We believe that Climate Change is the greatest local and global issue of our time. As rural artists, we are compelled to address this issue as it affects everyone, especially the most vulnerable. We have told many stories in the DREAM ON THE FARM series. In fact, we are at the mid-point of this decalogue.
We have observed that art has a profound way of addressing climate change. No other medium can deliver the same impact as live story, music, and theatre. We aim to offer our community an artful message that will hopefully inspire action and ideas for bettering our community.
Flower Workshop
Flower Workshop
The day begins with coffee at the barn followed by a led tour by Willow Wisp flower farmers, Tannis Kowalchuk and Jess Beveridge. The attendees will visit the annual and perennial flower fields and learn best practices in growing cut flowers, our favorite varieties, and tips on post-harvest methods. Participants should bring their own clippers (provided if unavailable). Each participant will select and cut their own flowers from an acre of over 35 varieties of annuals and perennials. The workshop group will then return to the barn for an arranging session with instructions on flower design choices that consider color, shape, texture, and stem placement to build a dynamic and gorgeous arrangement. Participants take home their flower designs.
Pickling Workshop
Pickling Workshop
Participants will learn how to pickle using two methods: refrigerator-style pickles and water bath processing. Led by local experts, learn safe and easy methods to preserve your summer vegetables for winter enjoyment. Participation is limited and we request that attendees bring their own jars and lids. Organic farm vegetables and vinegars will be provided.
Alone Together Solo Play Festival
Alone Together Solo Play Festival
This festival will feature 3 original solo performances presented by writer-actor-creators who are exploring theatrical forms (clown, physical, immersive) and the human condition.
Fri. 9/13 at 7:30 PM-- Fool: Wanderings of the Last Clown on Earth, by Clown Daddy
Sat. 9/14 at 7:30 PM—Dora’s Gently Used Dream Store by Morgan McKenzie Kauffman
Sun. 9/15 at 2 PM-- Decompositions by Tannis Kowalchuk
Each performance is $30
See ALL 3 performances with a festival pass for $60!
Alice in ScienceLand in Nay Aug Park
Alice in ScienceLand - A science spin on Alice in Wonderland for all ages
A young science student named Alice falls asleep while studying for a science exam. Suddenly, a white rabbit appears and assumes the role of her tutor. White Rabbit takes Alice on a magical journey to meet a host of characters that include Cilly, a singing microbe on a compost pile, a mysterious dancing Fungus, a sickly Atmosphere, and the stormy Hydrosphere. At each encounter she learns new scientific information from an environmental perspective. Alice returns home ready to take her test. A fast-paced, music performance for children ages 5-12 that delivers science & art in an entertaining manner. Following each performance there will be a Q & A with retired NASA scientist, Elaine Matthews. Performers: Pam Arnold (Foley), Jess Beveridge (Alice), Ginny Hack (Fungus), Annie Hat (Cilly), Tannis Kowalchuk (White Rabbit), Doug Rogers (Atmo).
Lucy Joseph, A Staged Reading
Lucy Joseph, A Staged Reading
A new Farm Arts Collective performance in development in 2024, based on the life of local historical figure, Lucy Ann Joseph Israel Lobdell. Directed by Mimi McGirl with contributed story and texts from novelist Bill Klaber (The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell), L.A. Lobdell (The Female Hunter of Delaware and Sullivan Counties), and other historical texts, the original musical performance is in development with Jess Beveridge, Tannis Kowalchuk, Doug Rogers, and Pam Arnold.
Lucy Ann Joseph Israel Lobdell lived an extraordinary life by any measure. In 1855, Lobdell published a personal narrative as The Female Hunter of Delaware and Sullivan Counties. In this depiction of an unconventional life, Lobdell struggles to fit in as a daughter, sister, wife, and mother. Ultimately, they challenge the rigid expectations of what it meant to be a man or a woman in this era. We know from the historical record that Lobdell lived much of their life as a man, facing classic frontier hardships, witnessing the violent displacement of Native Americans, and feeling the consequences of a brutal Civil War. Traveling from the Catskills to Pennsylvania, and as far as the Minnesota Territories, they were run out of town more than once, jailed for indigence, and even tried in court unsuccessfully for impersonating a man. We also know Lobdell found love and a sense of spirituality, living for several years as a Reverend and as the husband of Marie Perry. In 1879, Lobdell’s brother successfully filed for guardianship of his sister’s estate and had her declared a lunatic. Now committed to the Willard Asylum for the Insane, in one of the earliest case studies on “Sexual Perversion,” Lobdell describes themself as “a man in all that the name implies.” Debates on what this means have continued ever since.
Decompositions at National Sawdust, Brooklyn, NY
Tannis will be performing a scene from ‘Decompositions’ as a part of National Sawdust in Brooklyn, NY.
NationalSawdust+ digs deep into its For Nature exploration with COMPOST!, an evening of mixed fare with music, theater, and conversation devoted to the process of decomposition and cultivation.
Multi-instrumentalist, song leader, composer, instrument designer, and committed composter Mark Stewart brings his Pete Seeger-meets-John Cage sensibility to bear, while theater artist Tannis Kowalchuk (co-founder of Willow Wisp Organic Farm and artistic director of Farm Arts Collective) performs a scene from her dynamic new solo show, Decompositions, which draws a parallel between the process of living, aging, and dying, and the transformation taking place in a compost pile on the stage.
New York Times food writer Melissa Clark shares musings on biodegradation and moderates an engrossing discussion with farmers and activists in this nourishing NS+ evening, hosted by series curator Elena Park.
The event is part of NS+’s continuing For Nature series, three programs exploring the interplay and collision between the natural and human worlds, featuring artists and musicians, scientists, and activists working to preserve and restore the environment. For Nature is made possible by the generous support of Kathryn and Emmanuel Morlet and the Westcustogo Foundation.
‘Decompositions’ is an original song-filled, multimedia performance that digs into birth, death, farming, art, decay (aging) and transformation.
Written and performed by Tannis Kowalchuk, “Decompositions” is created in collaboration with director Mimi McGurl, songs by Rima Fand, beats and soundscapes by Janhavi Pakrashi, music by the Farm Arts Collective, technical director is Jess Beveridge.