This growing season...

The farm-based artist residency is our foundational program that has operated continuously for 22 years including 2 pandemic seasons. Last year we chose to take a step back and evaluate the program in the context of other Wormfarm activities and programs. In 2023, we are using the residency to support emerging efforts in our community including collaborations with conservation and regenerative agriculture initiatives and the Rural Urban FLOW.

The foundational artist residency program runs each growing season, May through October, inviting artists to engage in life on a working CSA farm. By generating, supporting and promoting links between ourselves, our work and our place on earth, we expand the idea of “community supported agriculture” to include a creative community. We host up to three artists & writers at a time, welcoming individuals with an interest in sustainable systems. Residencies range anywhere from 1-5 months, but the most successful stays usually last a minimum of 2 months.

Each day started the same—a blissful awakening to the sound of cows mooing in the pasture, sipping coffee in the cozy barn kitchen, and mindful planting and harvesting of vegetables orchestrated by Farmer Jay.”

- Betsy Redelman

The Wormfarm agriculture surrounded by rolling hills, trees, and the sky above.
Wormfarm resident artist standing on a grassy hillside with wildflowers.
Wormfarm resident artists sort onions in a greenhouse with a cow and calf just outside the door.
Wormfarm resident artist carrying a large bunch of garlic on her back with a barn and farm fields in the distance.
Wormfarm artist residents taking an agri/cultural break by the barn.
A lattice top cherry pie and vase filled with wildflowers near an open window on the farm.
Wormfarm artist resident picking green beans and filling a basket on the grass.
Artist Residents with a harvest of fresh fruits and vegetables in produce boxes on a long table.
Wormfarm artist residents setting posts in the garden.
Wormfarm's artist residents weeding the vegetable rows.
Wormfarm artist residents in the back of a pickup truck with rows of vegetables behind them.
Fresh picked green onions fill a basket in the field.

In exchange for 15 hours in the garden per week, artists receive:

  • Rustic, private furnished rooms on the farm
  • Studio space in our continually evolving dairy barn: built in 1915, the barn is a beautiful example of the Dutch Gambrel style that we have gradually adapted to the working needs of the artists
  • Farm-fresh produce and many staples like rice, beans, flours, spices, oils & more
  • Gorgeous setting on a 40-acre farm set in the Driftless Region of Southwest Wisconsin
  • Access to tools & equipment
  • Opportunities for gallery exhibitions and community engagement.

The garden became the place where I gathered and organized thoughts to put to work in the studio, later in the day. I experienced a strong creative flow that poured into my project, which took a life of its own.”

- Patricia Tinajero