That's a wrap on the Farm/Art DTour

Thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to 10 years of the Farm/Art DTour! More than 200,000 DTourists traveled this 50-mile excursion through the working lands of Sauk County, Wisconsin—punctuated by site-responsive artworks, pasture performances, roadside poetry, local food markets, and Field Notes. Together, we celebrated the art of what farmers do every day and what they might do tomorrow, while deepening connections to this remarkable landscape on the edge of the Driftless.

Large cut out artwork Get to the Pie by Brent Houzenga. Located in a farm field, with a farm in the background, This installation was part of the 2020 Farm Art DTour.
Festival goers around a campfire at Witwen Park during the 2020 Farm/Art DTour.
Artwork called Cloud by Charlie Brouwer installed on a hilltop is surrounded by cows. One-hundred ladders were used to create the work, installed on land owned by Nathan Brickl.
Artists Sheila Novak, Crystal Nesseth & Emilie Bouvier Fluvial Wormfarm Institute Farm/Art DTour 2021
Sauk County ARK is an artwork by Tory Tepp installed in Sauk County, Wisconsin. Kernza, a perennial grain, radiates from an earthwork in the shape of a landlocked ship: a field station for scientific research, meditation & agricultural play.
Large sculptured pigs seem to jump over a fence at the Farm Art DTour in Wisconsin. People visiting look dwarfed in comparison.
Several dancers in a farm field with their arms raised toward the sky, a corn field is their backdrop. This was a "pasture performance" in the 2016 Farm/Art DTour.
John Himmelfarb’s sculpture called “Penelope Awaiting Her Chamberlain” is a 1946 Chevy truck with scrap from a local junkyard piled on its hood. Penelope is a nod to the late sculpture John Chamberlain.
A goat climbs on a jungle gym with cropland and tree-lined hills.

Rural Prosperity

The DTour became a powerful driver of rural economic development and opportunity for artists, fostering pride of place and civic engagement across the rural–urban divide. From 2011 to 2024, hundreds of artists were supported, dozens of creative collaborations were sparked, entrepreneurial businesses took root, and millions of dollars flowed into our region through direct and indirect spending.

The Farm/Art DTour has gone from regional novelty to a model for the emerging world of curbside culture. It took the restrictions of a pandemic to show what DTour visitors have known for many years now: the form has wheels. Already there have been drive-by shows staged on the East and West coasts. Having participated in one in LA, I can say that the difference is that of layers, of depth. Viewing art works outdoors is one thing; a DTour through the land and season is an altogether more poignant experience.”

- Dan S. Wang (2020)

What Comes Next

Across three unique routes (plus the pilot year), each presented three times, we pushed this format to its limits—and it left fertile ground for what comes next. While it’s bittersweet to close this chapter, we’re excited for this natural pivot in our 25-year history and for the artist-led projects now growing from this experience.

Learn more about current projects