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Ever wonder how to creatively bridge art and agriculture together…Donna Neuwirth and Jay Salinas have mastered this creative bridge.. And they not only have mastered integrating art and agriculture, they have also set the stage for lifelong connections to form, way beyond their company’s many inspiring projects.

After many years working in art and theater in Chicago, Donna Neuwirth and Jay Salinas moved to a farm in the Driftless Region of southwest Wisconsin and learned to grow vegetables. Don’t worry, I asked about what the Driftless Region is and Jay did a great job of describing it to me! Stay tuned for that.

Seduced by life in the soil (I loved this phrase written by Donna & Jay and couldn’t wait to repeat it!!) and struck by parallels between farming and art making, Jay and Donna formed Wormfarm Institute and created an Artist Residency Program in the year 2000. They slowly transformed a dairy barn into a studio space and initiated a CSA farm-share program. Each year, resident artists of all disciplines are carefully selected to come to the farm from across the country to grow food, eat well, and make art. Out of these seasonal infusions of creative energy, grounded in the most fundamental activity—farming—Wormfarm’s public-facing programs such as the biennial Farm/Art DTour emerged. DTour is spelled DTour. It started out as a real Detour from another art tour. A little story that Jay explains in our interview! This Farm/Art DTour is probably not what you are thinking it is. It is actual art (pretty big art) built onto farmland that can be viewed via a vehicle tour. Jay also tells us about their Fermentation Festival and how that helped set the stage for the Art DTour.

I interviewed Jay while he and Donna were on hiatus from the Wisconsin Farm, spending time in their second home, Mexico City. Jay describes the energy he feels at the Wisconsin Farm and the energy he derives from being in Mexico City. He hopes to create more connections from his Wisconsin home to his home away from home in Mexico City.

Enjoy my conversation with Jay Salinas from Wormfarm Institute.

Wormfarm Institute
Farm/Art DTour
Art Residency Program
Smithsonian Museum on Main Street

Grounded in Maine Podcast hosted by Amy Fagan is an open conversation about being mindful about how we show up for the world. Amy is passionate about learning how we can be sustainable in all aspects of life.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to The Agri-Tourist Podcast, for supporting our inspirational guests, and for sharing my personal journey back to agriculture.

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