Key Ingredients ~ a smithsonian exhibition
October 22 to December 3, 2010
Culture surrounds our food, and food imbues our culture.
Key Ingredients: America by Food is a traveling Smithsonian exhibit coming to Reedsburg October 22 – Dec 3, 2010, at the downtown Woolen Mill Gallery.
What is it? The Smithsonian exhibit is a look at food and culture across the nation. For more information about the traveling exhibit, you can visit its website.
Leading up to the Key Ingredients exhibit, the Wormfarm, along with local businesses and organizations, is hosting a companion series of exhibits, lectures, workshops, and special events that are unique to Sauk County. These lively events will explore the culture of food in Sauk County and throughout southern Wisconsin. Keep checking in — we're adding to the schedule even now!
Why is this good for Sauk County? One-fifth of all Americans live in rural areas and one-half of all U.S. museums are located in small, rural towns. Though rural museums demonstrate uncanny enthusiasm for local heritage, they have few opportunities for funding or technical assistance. Museum on Main Street provides these institutions with access to otherwise scarce resources and assists them in making lasting improvements that advance their institution's ambitions.
Key Ingredients will travel to six small towns in Wisconsin. Reedsburg and the Wormfarm have the honor of being first. Our town has rich food traditions alive and well in church basements, festivals, farms, and hidden kitchens everywhere. We welcome the occasion to seek out and celebrate this living history but also to expand the discussion by using food as a jumping off point to explore Key Ingredients for a thriving rural community.
Through this Smithsonian exhibit we aim to provide a fresh perspective, and to involve people in creative and meaningful ways in an ongoing discussion about the future of our food, our land, our health, and our communities.
Key Ingredients is coming to Reedsburg through the efforts of the Wisconsin Humanities Council and Museum on Main Street (MoMS).
Museum on Main Street is a one-of-a-kind cultural project that serves small town museums and residents of rural America. A partnership of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), the Federation of State Humanities Councils, and state humanities councils nationwide, Museum on Main Street combines the prestige of Smithsonian exhibitions, the program expertise of state humanities councils, and the remarkable volunteerism and unique histories of small rural towns.
Our partners include: Wisconsin Humanities Council, Wisconsin Arts Board, Sauk County Arts and Culture Committee, Sauk County Historical Society, Sauk County UW Extention, City of Reedsburg, Reedsburg Public Library, Reedsburg Area Chamber of Commerce, and Reedsburg School District.
Participating businesses include: Blue Heron, Corner Pub, Deli Bean, DJ Dietz Designs, Lakeside Foods, Little French Bakery, Community First Bank, Touchdown Tavern, and Vierbicher Associates. Questions? Email: Donna Neuwirth, project director Wormfarm Institute at wormfarm@jvlnet.com
