Understanding Food Labels:
Organic, Regenerative, Free Range, Cage Free, Non-GMO.
What does it all mean?

This last class is designed to help consumers understand the variety of food label definitions found on many food products. These definitions can include Free Range, Cage Free, Pasture-raised, Organic, Sustainably Produced--- what does it all mean? This is an informative class about the labels that get stamped on our food products and how we can understand their actual meaning. Taught in collaboration with Gael Roots Farm & made possible by a For Farmers Grant.

Financial and other support for the Understanding Food Labels Workshop has been provided by the Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Education Grants Program

No Reservation Required. Pay What You Can at the door.

Join SOUPer Star Tannis Kowalchuk at the Narrowsburg Farmers’ Market to taste her homemade, traditional borscht.

The borscht is made from farm fresh produce from Willow Wisp Organic Farm and can be purchased that day at the farmers’ market!

This special event is SOLD OUT! Contact Jess@FarmArtsCollective.org to be placed on a waiting list.

Please join us for Jazz on the Farm with the Farm Arts All Stars.  A very special evening with local, international, musicians from the NY, PA area.  This event promises to be a beautiful setting for this world renowned band featuring: Will Sellenraad, Kevin Hays, Ben Street and Tyler Dempsey.  We would love your support for Jazz on the farm to continue this series. Join us as we levitate the farm.  Grab your tickets now for the upstate event of the summer. Refreshments provided by Upward Brewing Company. 

Will Sellenraad has earned a fast growing reputation of being at the forefront of creative musicians working in New York City.  Known for his brilliant improvisations and his compelling, melodic compositions, this New York City native melds the various styles, phrasings and concepts of the jazz idiom with the raw elements of soul, rock and funk, to create a singular sound that is nothing short of inspiring.  https://www.willsellenraad.com

Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist, composer, and singer/songwriter Kevin Hays’s many recordings have received critical acclaim from The New York Times, Downbeat Magazine and Jazz Times, as well as the “Coup de Coeur” award from the Académie Charles Cros (France). https://www.kevinhays.com

Ben Street is a New York-area jazz double-bassist. He has played with many great jazz artists, notably Kurt Rosenwinkel on the Album "Next Step," Ben Monder on the Album "Dust" and the legendary Sam Rivers on the Album "Violet Violets."He studied the Acoustic Bass with the former Weather Report bassist Miroslav Vitous. He is the son of Saxophonist and Saxophone mouthpiece maker Bill Street and is native of Maine. 

Tyler Dempsey is a professional drummer & educator from Clarks Summit, PA. He has performed, toured, and/or recorded with many of the region’s finest musicians including NEA Jazz Masters Dave Liebman and Bob Dorough, Grammy award-winning pianist Kevin Hays, Ben Street, Hal Galper, Phil Markowitz, Gene Perla, Ryan Keberle, Don Braden, Chase Baird, Joe Magnarelli, Joe Locke, etc.

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. 

-Wear your farm boots!

-Bring clippers or scissors. We have a few pairs!

-Bring a vase or vessel to bring your bouquet home.

-Light refreshments will be served

-Please NO pets!

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. 

-Wear your farm boots!

-Bring clippers or scissors. We have a few pairs!

-Bring a vase or vessel to bring your bouquet home.

-Light refreshments will be served

-Please NO pets!

Join a walking tour across 24 acres of Willow Wisp Organic Farm. Led by farmer-owner Greg Swartz, participants will observe the crop diversity, irrigation systems, and the organic farming methods that focus on soil health, crop rotation, and cover-crops. The tour will be followed by a farm-fresh lunch with a Q and A with the farmer.

Please RSVP and pay what you can at the door.

A free annual event for families. This year, events will include ongoing farm tours, touch-a-tractor, planting sunflower seeds to take home, harvesting flowers and vegetables from the fields, making print-art with ink, plant matter, leaves and flowers, face-painting, taste-test vegetables, and much more!

JUNETEENTH at Farm Arts Collective
With Janus Adams, Oliver King, Grey Wolf, and Adrienne Jensen
Thursday, June 19th at 7 PM

Celebrate Juneteenth at Farm Arts Collective and experience stories of race and courage in an unforgettable evening of truth-telling, music, and memory. This annual event at Farm Arts Collective on Willow Wisp Organic Farm will begin with a Lenape opening ceremony with Lenape culture bearer, Grey Wolf (Robin Henderson),  followed by Oliver King’s performance of poetry by Langston Hughes including the well known poem, “I,Too, Am America.” Following Mr. King’s presentation, Emmy Award-winning journalist and historian Janus Adams, host of The Janus Adams Show will appear, and human rights activist, Adrienne Jensen will also offer a reflection.

This live multimedia event at Farm Arts Collective features riveting stories and rare audio-video clips—from Indigenous photojournalist Josué Rivas at Standing Rock to hidden Underground Railroad sites in upstate New York. With readings, music, audience Q&A, and a celebratory sing-along, the evening concludes with Mary McLeod Bethune’s (educator, college founder, Civil/Women’s Rights leader; member, FDR’s “Kitchen Cabinet”) time-honored recipe for sweet potato pie, a surprise takeaway—and a gift to remember. The evening starts at 7 PM, with light refreshments offered. Tickets are Pay-What-You Can at the door.

Janus Adams-- Emmy Award-winning journalist, historian, entrepreneur, and bestselling author of eleven books, Dr. Janus Adams is the host of public radio’s “The Janus Adams Show” and podcast. A frequent on-air guest, she has appeared on ABC, BET, CBS, CNN, Fox News, NBC’s The Today Show, and NPR’s All Things Considered. With more than 500 articles, essays and columns to her credit.Her book, Glory Days: 365 Inspired Moments in African American History, was licensed by McDonald’s and reached more than 3 million readers.A pioneer of issue-oriented African American and women’s programming she has hosted her own radio and television talk shows for more than ten years. Her series, “Milestones in African American Business History,” ran on public radio’s Marketplace. Her 19-hour International Women’s Day marathon broadcasts brought her to NPR as the network’s first National Arts Correspondent and opened the New York News Bureau.

Robin Grey Wolf Henderson
Robin is a Sullivan County writer, actor, martial artist, and a member of the Ramapough Lunaape First Nation people.

Adrienne Jensen
Adrienne is the Executive Director of Evergreen Meadow Academy. She is the past Executive Director of the Sullivan County Human Rights Commission. Adrienne has worked with and developed programs for youth-at-risk, both rural and migrant families, women's empowerment, elders, and issues around the ever-growing housing crisis. She is embedded in Sullivan County's community-based infrastructure and is respected throughout New York State as a human rights professional. Adrienne is a member of the Farm Arts Collective board of directors.

G. Oliver King
Starting as a young actor in NYC, G. Oliver King studied under Geraldine Fitzgerald and Marketa Kimbrel, leading to transformative lessons with Lee Strasberg. Touring NYC with The Everyman Company and The Chalk Circle Players, he also traveled to farms, reservations, and prisons across the U.S. and Mexico, performing with the NY Street Theatre Caravan at the Munich Olympics. In LA, he danced with The Shirley Martin Dancers and acted with Company of Angels. Teaching at La Universidad Veracruzana in Mexico, G. Oliver King appeared in the film Ultraje. He portrayed diverse roles with the Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop, worked with Delaware Valley Opera, and staged Shakespeare in the Park for At-Risk Youth. Producing Sullivan County’s first all African American production of A Raisin in the Sun, he directed historical tributes and played Captain Gilroy in NACL’s Courage. In 2021, G. Oliver King presented a virtual series of James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time and read as Troy Maxson in August Wilson’s Fences with SUNY Sullivan’s Theatre Arts program.

THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS as Told to Grandmother by Little Red, by Kathy Randels (ArtSpot Productions, New Orleans)
Saturday, May 24 at 7 PM $20

The Road to Damascus (as told by Grandmother to Little Red) is written and performed by Kathy Randels and directed and co-created with Odile Del Giudice. The piece draws upon Randels’ upbringing by two generations of Southern Baptist preachers, and making theatre with incarcerated women at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women for 24 years.

The Road to Damascus began as a prayer for the release of Gloria “Mama Glo” Williams, a longtime member of the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women Drama Club whose 52 years behind bars was the longest sentence served at the prison.   From 2019-2022, a “Free Mama Glo” campaign was held with many organizations including ArtSpot Productions to encourage Louisiana’s Governor John Bel Edwards to grant her pardon, which he finally did on January 25, 2022.

The play: Grandmother is an incarcerated woman who tells the story of Saul/Paul’s conversion experience to her granddaughter during prison visits to illuminate the persecutorial nature of the system in which they live. They share stories of encounters with the Wolf and the Huntsman that leave questions as to which of these two figures is predator and which is savior. The play examines the perpetrator/victim/savior dynamic that is present in both stories, in ourselves, and in our national consciousness. 

The creative team includes Designers Diane Baas (lighting), Kevin Griffith (set), Steve Gilliland (sound and music) and Shawn Hall (costumes), along with stage manager Tricia Anderson.

Alice in ScienceLand is a vibrant, family-friendly theatrical adventure that whisks audiences down the rabbit hole into a wild and whimsical world where science springs to life! Perfect for children ages 4 and up, this magical 30-minute show—performed by the acclaimed Farm Arts Collective—follows a curious young student named Alice who dozes off while cramming for her science exam… only to awaken in the extraordinary realm of ScienceLand!

Through songs, dance, humor, and interactive storytelling, Alice in ScienceLand weaves critical climate science and environmental awareness into a joyful, thought-provoking tale. At every turn, Alice gains valuable lessons about the interconnectedness of our planet and the urgent need to protect it—returning home not just ready for her exam, but inspired to stand up for a healthier world.

Directed by Tannis Kowalchuk, and featuring a dynamic ensemble cast including live Foley sound effects, this enchanting show is both educational and electrifying. Originally developed from the Collective’s 2021 production The Scientists, it is part of the ongoing DREAM ON THE FARM climate theatre series. Stick around after the show for a 15-minute talkback with NASA Scientist Elaine Matthews, where kids and grownups alike can ask questions and dig deeper into the science behind the story.

Runtime: 30 minutes + 15 minute talkback

Bringing Your Story to Life
A theatre workshop with Farm Arts Collective
Presented by the Western Sullivan Public Library - Delaware Free Branch

Everyone has a good story to tell. In this workshop participants will work with a story from their life and create a unique short monologue that employs theatrical elements including movement, props, action and music. Learn methods to activate a story and transform it into a unique short performance piece. Open to all levels of performance experience. Bring a notebook, a pen, and comfortable clothes to move in. 

Taught by Tannis Kowalchuk and Jess Beveridge of Farm Arts Collective.

Registration Required! Email WSPLPrograms@rcls.org to register!

We are excited to be back at The Greenhouse Project in Scranton, PA to perform ‘Decompositions’.

Doors open at 6:30 pm for a reception and there will be a Q&A following the performance.

Tickets are $10. Click HERE to purchase!

This performance is made possible by the Lackawanna County Arts & Culture Department.

Written and performed by Kowalchuk, the song-filled monologue explores decomposition as a metaphor for life. Featuring a compost pile at center stage, the performance begins with excerpts from the Gertrude Stein essay, "Composition as Explanation," providing an entry into the existential monodrama.

Employing her devised theatre practice and her agrarian life as a farmer, Decompositions is an original song-filled, multimedia performance that digs into birth, death, farming, art, ageing, and transformation.

In this deeply personal theatrical meditation, Kowalchuk explores the composting process as analogous to the process of her own aging-- at one point in the performance, she tosses a “finished” sunflower onto the compost pile and describes the biological composting process which ultimately leads to the creation of humus --a word that shares the Latin root with “human.”  

Kowalchuk’s humorous and poignant stories, songs and physical theatre  skills, take audiences on a journey of longing to accept mortality as elegantly as the compost does its 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, and projections by visual artist Phyllis Lehrer. Technical director is Jess Beveridge.

Decompositions is a production of Farm Arts Collective. It has played at Mondo Bizarro in New Orleans, Wessley College, Bus Stop Theatre Halifax, Nova Scotia, River Clyde Arts PEI,  Art Space Bay of Fundy, National Sawdust Williamsburg, NYC, Pontine Theatre in Portsmouth, NH ,Goddard Arts, NYC,  Ecological City NYC, The Cooperage in Honesdale, PA, Wunderbarn, Clear Creek Creative in Berea, Kentucky.

Bringing Your Story to Life
A theatre workshop with Farm Arts Collective
Presented by the Western Sullivan Public Library - Delaware Free Branch

Everyone has a good story to tell. In this workshop participants will work with a story from their life and create a unique short monologue that employs theatrical elements including movement, props, action and music. Learn methods to activate a story and transform it into a unique short performance piece. Open to all levels of performance experience. Bring a notebook, a pen, and comfortable clothes to move in. 

Taught by Tannis Kowalchuk and Jess Beveridge of Farm Arts Collective.

Registration Required! Email WSPLPrograms@rcls.org to register!

The Goddess is a Clown is a playful, embodied workshop that invites you to step back into your power, pleasure, and sense of play. Through movement, laughter, and a touch of the ridiculous, we'll shake off the weight of seriousness and remember that joy is our birthright. The Goddess within isn’t just wise and powerful - she’s got a wicked sense of humor too!
Led by Clown Daddy, this workshop is a celebration of the divine mischief-maker inside every woman, guiding us back to our bodies, our desires, and the sheer delight of being alive.  

What is Devised Theatre?

Devised theatre-making is a unique creative method that invites the performer to be a creator. This results in a process that engages the actors’ imagination, voice, body, writing skills and design concepts. Devised theatre usually does not start from a pre-written script but is created together through a collective rehearsal process. This creates original, moving, and relevant theatre, a direct expression and reflection of the imagination and bodies of a collective of individuals. 

Who Should Take This?

Led by Farm Arts Collective’s artistic director, Tannis Kowalchuk, this workshop invites actors, directors, writers, dancers, singers, and designers to explore devised theatre technique that includes, physical-movement theatre, voice work, and text-writing to create original theatre performance. Group and individual exercises will be taught to explore principles of movement, voice and song, and developing a “ready” body and imagination to create theatre. Participants are asked to wear clothes to move in and bring a pen and notebook.

What Will We Do In this Workshop?

Tannis Kowalchuk, she will share her life’s work making theatre with ensembles. In this concise 2 hour workshop, everyone will move physically, sing, write, and develop a short performance piece. The class will start with specific physical exercises that engage the complete body and get the participants moving in the space and interacting with others.  (Please wear clothes you can move in). We will explore voice and song together as a group, and then each participant will create an action and write a piece of text led by prompts from the workshop leader (please bring a notebook and pen).  The individuals’ material will be montaged into a complete ensemble score, a scene utilizing everyone’s creative material. This portion of the workshop might be of particular interest to directors and writers of theatre.
PAY WHAT YOU CAN at the door.

This hands-on seminar will be taught by Farm Arts Collective resident playwrights Melissa Bell and Mark Dunau. Students will explore the elements of playwriting, from character, stasis, rising action, recognition to denouement. Through writing exercises and prompts, the class will explore creating dialogue and events, which drive the play forward. They will discuss broader aspects of theme and structure, with a chance to play with ideas, put the pen to paper and see what comes out.

The question will be asked: “What makes a play different from other forms?” Famously, Aristotle gives six elements of drama - plot, character, theme, dialogue, music, and spectacle. But this can be a little overwhelming when looking at a blank page. And not every play incorporates all of these elements, nor do they use Aristotelian structure. So, how does one begin writing a play?

The instructors will give writing prompts and time will be devoted to actual writing and presenting written work. Participants will have an opportunity to get their work up on its feet and read. Participants are encouraged to bring a theme, idea or character you would like to explore.

This class is Pay-What-You-Can and the address of Farm Arts Collective is 38 Hickory Lane, Damascus, PA 18415

Artists’ Bios
Melissa Bell has been a member of Farm Arts Collective since 2019 and has contributed to all 5 productions of Dream on the Farm. Her play LADY CAPULET was twice nominated for Best Adaptation & Modernization by New York Shakespeare and awarded Finalist for Henley Rose Playwright Competition. Her work on COURAGE with Tannis Kowalchuk was awarded Honored Finalist for the Collaboration Award by the Women in Arts & Media Coalition. Her play ZOE COMES HOME, a dark comedy, premiered at the Tusten Theatre and Bernie Wohl Theatre in NYC in 2023 and 2024. Visit www.themelissabell.com to see more of her work.

Mark Dunau is a farmer and artist. He has had ten full length plays produced, seven in New York City. His play Glass was nationally toured for three years with grants from the National Science Foundation.  He has worked collaboratively with Tannis Kowalchuk since 2014 on several productions.  Mark has been making his living farming without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides since 1990 at Mountain Dell Farm in Hancock, NY. He is known in the agricultural community as a pioneer in the Farm to Table movement, and mentored many farmers.

Celebrate International Women’s Day at Farm Arts Collective!

The event invites a diverse and dynamic ecosystem of women & women-identified in our community to an afternoon of performance, presentations, food, and interactive activity. All women in our community are invited. The theme of this year's International Women's Day around the planet is: ACCELERATE ACTION

To open the event, Tannis Kowalchuk, artistic director of Farm Arts Collective will share an excerpt from her solo play “Decompositions.”  Following the performance, an eclectic mix of local women will offer a brief sharing of their work-- , hear from local powerhouses including Nina Burleigh of the American Freakshow SubStack, Adrienne Jensen of the Rural & Migrant Ministry, Susan Mendoza of The Chi Hive and Flirty Riot, Iris and Amy Gillingham of Wild Roots and Gael Roots Farms, Barbara Arrindell of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, and Clarissa Wimmers of the Wayne County Food Pantry. hosted by Amy Milin, Director of Swift Waters Creative Retreat.

All community members of all genders are invited to celebrate International Women’s Day at Farm Arts Collective. Eat, laugh, connect, and share with incredible local women, and recommit to growth and empowerment in the coming year! Following farm fresh food and presentations, all women present will be invited to engage in an interactive activity that invites the sharing of their own vision for ACTION and TRANSFORMATION. 

No reservation required. Pay-What-You-Can at the door.

All women receive a flower upon entrance.

Have fun finding your inner warrior! This stage combat workshop will give you some foundations and skills to perform convincing fight scenes safely. You will learn some basic terminology for stage combat, safety, consent/intimacy work, punches, kicks, falls, and weapons. This will class will prioritize safety and using this tool for optimum storytelling through movement.

Diverse skill levels: The workshop is suitable for beginners to experienced actors. 

Practical application: Hands-on exercises to learn fight choreography. 

Storytelling element: Stage combat can be used to enhance character development and excitement for the overall presentation aspect of theater.

Variety of techniques: Unarmed and weapon techniques will be covered.

PAY WHAT YOU CAN at the door.

Participants will share their compositions with each other and receive detailed feedback and next-steps advice from the teacher.

PAY WHAT YOU CAN at the door.

Introduction, philosophy, technique, with song-writer Doug Rogers who has created many incredible and memorable tunes for the Dream on the Farm series. Doug will give participants a song-writing assignment which will be brought in the following week.

PAY WHAT YOU CAN at the door.

Finding your clown’s physicality and inner life is the goal with this playful workshop. Actress, Clown Daddy will teach how to shift your body and mind into a state of energized creativity, curiosity and joy. Red nose provided.

PAY WHAT YOU CAN at the door.

Tannis will teach a battery of songs with amazing group harmonies as well as introduce exercises that employ the voice as a muscle. We will stretch our range and capacity and attempt some improvised song-making.  Everyone can sing is the philosophy. Singing is natural and good for us.

PAY WHAT YOU CAN at the door.

THIS WORKSHOP HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8 FROM 1-3 PM DUE TO WEATHER!!!

Tannis will teach a battery of songs with amazing group harmonies as well as introduce exercises that employ the voice as a muscle. We will stretch our range and capacity and attempt some improvised song-making.  Everyone can sing is the philosophy. Singing is natural and good for us.

PAY WHAT YOU CAN at the door.