Donna Neuwirth
Executive Director
As co-founder and executive director of Wormfarm, Donna has developed numerous public art projects at the intersection of culture and agriculture including the Reedikulus Puppet Festival, The Re-enchantment of Agriculture, and Fermentation Fest: A Live Culture Convergence. She has served as artistic/project director of the Farm/Art DTour since its inception in 2011. The DTour has become a model for rural creative placemaking under her leadership, featured in the NYT and PBS Newshour. She serves on the board of the Sauk County Development Corporation and has a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Jay Salinas
Director of Strategic Partnerships
Jay is an artist, farmer and co-founder of Wormfarm. He coordinates the Artist Residency program, and leads food and agriculture outreach initiatives. He helped conceptualize the Farm/Art DTour and has served as juror, logistics and Food Chain coordinator from 2011-2020. Trained as a sculptor, Jay holds a BFA from University of IL Champaign and an MFA from University of Cincinnati. He has operated a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm since 1995. He has worked nationally for food justice and sustainability issues and was a director at Growing Power in Milwaukee from 2006-09.
Philip Matthews
Managing Director
For a decade Philip has led site-specific projects in performance, language and collaborative art. Prior to joining Wormfarm’s team in spring 2020, he organized bold projects at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis including (with Ballroom Marfa) Marfa Dialogues / STL, a program series which invited scientists, artists, civic leaders and activists to seek solutions to Midwestern climate issues. A poet from eastern North Carolina, he is the author of two books and holds an MFA in Poetry from Washington University in St. Louis and BA in English from Tulane University.
Jennifer Seas
Projects Director
Jennifer Seas is an interdisciplinary artist and the founder of BOUND Projects, a curatorial and cultural practice focused on developing site-specific installations and performances with living artists, creating unexpected juxtapositions within exhibitions, and building frameworks for meaningful public engagement. She has organized over 40 exhibitions across a range of contexts, including museums, university galleries, and experimental indoor and outdoor project spaces. She serves as editor-in-chief of Art Forearm, a magazine dedicated to the labor and material intelligence of art, her writing has appeared in academic and curatorial contexts, and she has taught and lectured at institutions in the U.S. and abroad. She earned undergraduate degrees in fine art and psychology from Northeastern Illinois University and an MFA in visual art from Washington University in St. Louis.
Christina Dollhausen
Production Manager
Christina brings 20 years of experience producing live music and community events across the Driftless and south-central Wisconsin—from the Stoughton Opera House to outdoor festivals in Viroqua, Wisconsin. A mother of three adventurous boys and raised on a farm in McGregor, Iowa, in a family rooted in agriculture, conservation, and education, she thrives at the intersection of arts, rural life, and big ideas. An active guitarist, singer/songwriter in two bands, The Iowans and Loosey Stone, and a former college softball pitcher with a BA in Communications from UW Stevens Point, Christina is a creative community catalyst, blending nonprofit and rural economic development experience with a hands-on, “let it grow” approach—whether cultivating events, community projects, or her own garden - connecting artists, audiences, and place in the Driftless region.
Cathy McCauley
Communications Coordinator
A writer and creative collaborator, for two decades Cathy’s work has centered on connections to place, people, and story, crafting content and engaging audiences across traditional and digital platforms. She currently creates nature-focused public art, guides groups through immersive nature experiences, and serves as board president of the Ela Area Public Library in the Chicago suburbs. Cathy’s professional background includes roles as a staff writer at a Wisconsin community newspaper, communications manager for a Chicago-based nonprofit, and a holistic bodyworker, trainer, and workshop facilitator at a women’s wellness center. She holds a BA in magazine journalism from Columbia College of Chicago.