Wormfarm Institute

06/01/2026

🌱 Here's a glimpse into what's growing in the Wormfarm garden when the residency program reopens this month and welcomes back past resident artist Austen Camille, along with collaborators Amanda Leigh Evans, Tia Kramer, and Mark Menjívar. Check out their bios and past work!

The Flyway Fellows will begin their curatorial research effort for Flyway Project, a multi-year initiative that aims to link artists, scientists, farmers, conservationists, rural and urban communities, and organizations along major bird migration routes known as 'flyways.' During their stay, the team will focus on deepening local partnerships with Sauk County organizations, including the International Crane Foundation and Aldo Leopold Foundation.

Past Work
🎥 When the Cows Arrived by Boat, Passenger Pigeons Still Traveled the Skies, Austen Camille, 2022 Farm/Art DTour. Hand-painted stop-motion augmented reality. Music composed by Evan Kassof.

📷 Fifty Clocks Made to Strike Together, Deep Time Collective, 2026, Oregon Contemporary Artists’ Biennial: The Price of the Ticket. Installation and performance inspired by an 1818 letter written by John Adams describing the success of the American Revolution: “Thirteen Clocks were made to strike together—a perfection of mechanism which no artist had ever before effected.” This work questions if such a feat can occur again by activating fifty mechanical clocks intended to represent the fifty united states.

📷 When The River Becomes a Cloud / Cuando el río se transforma en nube, 2021-ongoing. Collaborative, interdisciplinary artwork, preK-12 grade public school, Prescott, Wa. Photograph by Allyn Griffin.

📷 La Misma Canción (The Same Song), Mark Menjivar, ongoing. Multi-site project that uses birds as a way to explore migration, ecology, sound studies, land ownership, culture and mutual aid through drawing, research practices, walks, festivals, installations and more.

Images courtesy of artists.

05/26/2026

🌾 Wormfarm and other Midwestern artist-led organizations will be featured during States in Play, a public exhibition by the College for Creative Studies in collaboration with the MdW Summit Detroit .coalition, June 24, 2026 from 5-8pm at the CCS Valade Gallery, Detroit.

The exhibition explores collaboration as both a method and ethos, and highlights how artist led organizations work together to sustain lasting cultural infrastructure throughout the Midwest.

If you’re in the Detroit area, stop by to check out the wide range of Midwestern art on display!

Wormfarm represents Wisconsin alongside fellow MdW partners from states across the region including Big Car Collaborative Collaborative (Indianapolis, Ind.); BULK SPACE (Detroit, Mich); Charlotte Street (Kansas City, Mo.); Confluence: An East Lake Studio for Community Design (Minneapolis, Minn.); Manoomin Arts Initiative (Mahnomen, Minn.); Project Project (Omaha, Neb.); PAR-Projects (Cincinnati, Ohio); Public Media Institute publicmediainstitute.com (Chicago, Ill.); Public Space One (Iowa City, Iowa): Racing Magpie (Rapid City, S.D.); The school for Rural Culture and Creativity schoolforruralculture.org (Matfield Green, Kansas).

📷️: Graphic courtesy of MdW.

.coaltion

05/15/2026

Get your tickets to The Lonely Marsh, an original work by Julia Blair, past resident artist. The show consists of an original puppet performance and musical score inspired by Marshland Elegy, an essay by Aldo Leopold. After the 30-minute performance there will be a short children's activity and Q&A session for the audience.

🎟️ Open to the public and free! Get your tickets: https://www.riverartsinc.org/thelonelymarsh/
📆 Friday, June 19, 2026, 2pm
🎨 River Arts Center, Prairie Du Sac, Wis.

📷️ Photos and illustration provided by Julia Blair.

05/07/2026

Ready for a slice of story and culture? Register to attend this upcoming performance of 'Makin' Cake,' written and performed by Dasha Kelly Hamilton, writer, facilitator, performance artist and creative change agent. Dasha is a Rural Urban FLOW collaborator and a fellow 2025 recipient of the Ruth Arts Wisconsin Special Project grant. She cuts into the cake with conversation on culture, class and race. Don't miss this performance!

📆 7pm, Thursday, May 14, 2026
📍 Arts + Literature Laboratory, Madison
🎟️ To register: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/makin-cake-2

📷️ Dasha Kelly Hamilton reads in the tabernacle at Witwen Park during the 2022 Farm/Art DTour, organized by Wormfarm Institute; photo by Katrin Talbot.

05/01/2026

Join Philip Matthews, Managing Director of Wormfarm Institute, Wed., May 6, 10:30 – 11:30am at the Museum of Wisconsin Art , West Bend, WI, for Art + Wellness: Working Art on Working Land.

🌾 Get an inside look at the Hay Rake Ballet, an artist-led project in Sauk County, where choreographer Sarah Gordon Butler collaborates with local farmers to turn everyday farming into a beautiful, rhythmic performance of classical dance.

Since 2024, this project has brought together artists, farmers, and community members, highlighting the artistry of family-scale farming and land stewardship. 🌱

Attend to learn more about the project’s evolution and take part in a brief creative activity exploring your own connection to the land.

🎟️ Pre-registration is not required. Museum fee is $15, which provides a one-year membership to MOWA and also entrance to all programs. If you are currently a member, the program is free.

https://wisconsinart.org/events/artwellness-working-art-on-working-land/



📷️
Wormfarm Institute Managing Director Philip Matthews, photo: Katrin Talbot
Hay Rake Ballet, 2025 preview performance, photos: Ron Lutz II

04/29/2026

🌾 Listen to the conversation on the Art of the Rural podcast with Wormfarm Institute co-founders, Donna Neuwirth and Jay Salinas, as they talk about their experiences building connections with place, culture and ecology in Wisconsin’s Driftless region over the last 30 years.

Hear about Wormfarm’s history, current artist-led programs nourished by land and relationships, and where the organization is headed in the future.

Meet Donna Neuwirth and Jay Salinas, co-Founders of Wormfarm Institute, a cross-sector arts and culture organization rooted in Sauk County, Wisconsin.

04/27/2026

Meet Donna Neuwirth and Jay Salinas, co-Founders of Wormfarm Institute, a cross-sector arts and culture organization rooted in Sauk County, Wisconsin.

04/17/2026

🎟️ Have you gotten your ticket for the Dane Arts Business of Art Conference V? There's still time to register at danearts.com.

📍 While at the conference, check out "Making Art with What You Have: 25 Years of Persistence and Partnerships" with Wormfarm's co-founder Jay Salinas on Fri, April 24 from 3:15 - 4:30pm.

For 25 years, Wormfarm has persisted and grown in a resource-scarce environment by remaining committed to an expansive vision of community creativity and artistic excellence. Jay will share about how Wormfarm Institute has evolved from a personal art project to an effective creative change agent that "punches above its weight" in beneficial regional impact. He'll highlight the importance of developing a broad range of partnerships and staying curious and excited about the land upon which we depend. Check it out! 🌾

Butterfly logo: Bernie & zuzu
Jay Salinas photo: Wormfarm Institute

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04/15/2026

🌱 What a way to kick off a new season at Wormfarm with both fresh energy and familiar faces! We’ve grown our team for 2026 as we continue in our mission to cultivate connections between our rural and urban neighbors through art, food, and the land and investing in our cultureshed. Follow us here, check us out at wormfarminstitute.org and join us in the 2026 growing season!

03/31/2026

Celebrate with Savor the River Valley on Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the 4th annual Earth Day Farm & Food Tour 🌎 🥬

Eleven stops along this free, self-guided route will highlight local people producing food in ways that protect our soil, water, air and communities. Stops include farms, orchards, kitchens and food businesses throughout the River Valley offering unique demonstrations, hands-on education, tasty food, local community and fun! For more info visit https://www.savortherivervalley.org/events.

📍Pin Seven Seeds Farm on your map, and stop for a visit with Sarah Lloyd, Wormfarm’s board president, who will be stationed with a UW Grassland 2.0 info booth. She’ll share GrazeScape and SmartScape farm and watershed model outputs and talk with folks about what buying and eating pasture-based meats means for farmers, communities, land, and water. Stop by and learn more!



Images courtesy of Savor the River Valley.