i ntegratingCulture & Agriculturealong the Rural-urban Continuum
25 years Cele b r a ting
Photo: Paul Gaudynski
About W ormfarm
Dedicated to integrating culture and agriculture, Wormfarm Institute is an evolving laboratory of the arts and ecology, and fertile ground for creative work. Planting a seed, cultivating, reaping what you sow… both farmer and artist have these activities in common. Through public programs and a farm-based artist residency, Wormfarm is working to build a sustainable future for agriculture and the arts by fostering vital links between people and the land.
The name is inspired by a quote from Charles Darwin: “Every fertile grain of soil has passed at least once through the gut of an earthworm.”
Art amplifes what landscape quietly asserts.
- Max Garland, former Wisconsin Poet Laureate
Farmed Frame by David Wells
RESiDENCY
This foundational program invites artists to engage in life on a working 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 of artists and writers.
2024 was our 24th year of inviting artists to “get dirty, eat well, and make art” during the growing season (May-October). Since 2000, the program has supported over 200 artists.
F arm/Art DTOur
Since 2011, Wormfarm has organized the Farm/Art DTour, a free 50-mile, self-guided drive through Sauk County’s working farmlands punctuated by commissioned site-responsive artworks, pasture performances, roadside poetry, local food markets, and more. In that time, cross-sector partnerships with creative entrepreneurs have launched new and expanded existing businesses, increasing the appetite for agri/cultural collaboration. 2024 marked a momentous Year 10 of the DTour! The ten-day fall event drew 25,000 people from near and far to witness the art of what farmers do everyday and notably, what they might do tomorrow.
We’d pass a feld and ask ourselves if what we were looking at was art or farming. After our
frst few actual installations it was clear, but the initial confusion was pretty entertaining, and led, I think, to exactly the conversation that Wormfarm was looking to stimulate.
- Mark & Dorothy Jones, Escape Velocity blog
Garden of Water and Wind by Sarah Kavage
Photo: Katrin Talbot
at a G lance
$3-5 million 156 artist proposals received from 29 states & 15 countries
Collaborated with 14 farm hosts, 9 local organizations, 12 based businesses
infused into the local economy according to Sauk County Development Corporation
The New York Times and Hyperallergic as well as extensive local coverage
Created a platform for 3 emerging artists to build their portfolio & reach a large audience
Local businesses reported large increases in sales: one reported 10x what they normally would sell in a month, over the 10-day period!
Over the past two years, we have published two volumes of IMAGINE, a zine, gathering 60+ writers, artists, and community collaborators to imagine thriving rural places 50 years into the future
2006–09
2010
Robert E. Gard
Wisconsin Idea Award for Excellence
Reedikulus Puppet Festival
Reenchantment of Agriculture
2011
Hosted Smithsonian traveling exhibit, Key Ingredients: America by Food Fermentation Fest begins Sauk County Non-profit of the Year
Wisconsin Governor’s Award in Support of the Arts
Premier of the Farm/Art DTour
Received one of only 34 ArtPlace America grants nationwide for creative placemaking in their initial round of funding
2012
Received a second ArtPlace grant
Highest ranked applicant statewide by a Wisconsin Arts Board grant review panel three years in a row for Fermentation Fest: A Live Culture Convergence
25 Y E a R s of a R t + ag R icultu R e
Contribution to Rural Life Award
DComposition project begins
Arts grant
2020–23
Wisconsin Governor’s Cultural Tourism Award
DTour continues despite pandemic with social distancing built-in
Year Ten of the DTour
Premiered the world's first Hay Rake Ballet
Test Plots begin
Discovery process begins for imagining a rural gathering place
Press coverage in The New York Times, Hyperallergic and Wisconsin State Journal
W itwen Park DiscoveRy
Witwen Park, a former church camp, has been a center of community life for more than 100 years. The park has been owned and maintained by one family for most of the past century, and in 2022, they approached Wormfarm to help imagine the next phase of its life.
Wormfarm led a two-year Discovery Process to envision how this beloved property might become a public gathering place for the next 100 years. The process began with an extensive Historic Structures Report commissioned from Kubala Washatko Architects, and was further shaped by a series of listening sessions, a wildlife survey and wetland study, and input gathered through concerts and Wormfarm programs. Together, these efforts have led to the formation of the Friends of Witwen Park—a group dedicated to moving this work forward.
Photo: Ron Lutz
The worst thing that could happen at Witwen Park would be for nothing to happen.
-Community member
Photo: Katrin Talbot
Revenant Canoe by Tory Tepp
Staff
Donna Neuwirth
Executive Director
Jay Salinas
Director of Special Projects & Outreach
Philip Matthews
Director of Programs
Tanya Carney
Program Manager
Jean O’Neal
Executive Assistant
Board of Directors
Sarah Lloyd
President
Nicole Kite
Vice President
Gary Goyke
Treasurer
Catherine Schwalbe
Secretary
Jay Salinas
Donna Neuwirth
Advisors
Pat Alea
John Davis
Margot H. Knight
Curt Meine
Abe Rybeck
Photo: Eric Baillies
Earth, Wind and Sky by Jongil Ma
F iNANCiALS
Since 2011, the Farm/Art DTour has been free to enjoy for anyone meandering those 50 miles of public county roads and Sauk County’s farmlands during the 10-day event. But if each one of the DTour’s 25,000 visitors donated just $15 (cheaper than going to the movies these days!) that year’s total project would be funded.
2024 Revenue
Annual revenue has more than doubled since 2018
Sponsorships
Government Grants
Earned Revenue
Private Foundations
Total Revenue
$7,000
$20,450
$33,730
$33, 886
$499,053
$594,119
2024 Expenses
Wormfarm has never had a deficit in its 25 years of operation.
Advertising & Marketing
Professional Services
Supplies & Equipment
Printing, Postage
Other Expenses
Travel: Artist/Team
Contractors
Artists
Salaries & Benefits
Total Expenses
$10,020
$14,670
$15, 561
$17,753
$20,981
$34,864
$42,984
$67, 294
$114,023
$255, 969
$594,119
Adam Weiss
Adunate Word & Design
Alan & Laurie Dischler
DTOuR
Grant
Hartmut Ringel
Hausner Farms
Hillsboro Brewing Company
Rural/Urban FLOW
Samuel Cantor (Minor Moon)
Sarah Butler
Alanna Medearis
Aldo Leopold Foundation
Alicia Cosnahan
Hispanic Knights of Columbus
ID Signs
Jane Kohlman & Jerry Leister
Andrew Marczak (Orillia)
Andy Enge
Angus Mossman
Sarah Kavage
Sauk County Home & Community Education (HCE)
John Himmelfarb
Jongil Ma
Joni Derdzinski
Junior’s Tavern
Austin Segrest Ayres Associates
Barbara L. Garvoille
Been Family Farm
Brian Markley
Karl Koweski
Katrin Talbot
Kevin Enge
SupPort
National Endowment for the Arts
ArtPlace America
Sauk County
Wisconsin Arts Board
Andy Warhol Foundation
Educational Foundation of America
New Pluralists
Common Field
Builders Initiative
Funding Good Chaos
Ruth Arts
Hoke Family Foundation
Nayar Foundation
Hegner Family Foundation
WI Humanities
Brian Sobaski
Brix Cider
Caley Conway
Carol & Ed Patterson
2024 A R tists, Collabo R ato r s, & Partners
Sauk County Land Resources & Environment
Sauk Prairie Area Chamber of Commerce
Kraemer Library & Community Center
Sauk Prairie Conservation Alliance (Apple Corps)
Lil Market & More
Lisa Hartman
Lish Ciambrone
Catherine Schwalbe
Cathy McCauley, Pamela Self & Shari Gullo
Cedar Grove
Cheese
Sauk Soil Water & Improvement
Group (SSWIG)
Little Eagle Arts Foundation (LEAF)
LK Signs
Lydia Park
Madigan Burke
Chrissy Shegonee Cricket Design Works
Dale Jaedike
Dan S. Wang
Darin Rosenbaum
Driftless Berry Cooperative
Dry River Goats
Echo Valley Farm
Edible Madison
El Tigre Mezcal
Elm Duo
Em J. Parsley
Emily Benz
Explore Sauk County
Felix B. Sainz, Jr.
Four Elements
Organics
Freedom Pines
Freethinkers’ Hall
Gabriela Jimenez
Marvan, Leonardo
Linares & Ryan
Rothweiler
Genevieve Vahl
Glitzy Garden
Hannah Perry
Savanna Institute
Scott Sprecher
Scottie McDaniel & Marshall Prado
Shawn Schell
Shawndell Marks
Martina “mars” Patterson
Matthew Vivirito
MdW
Melissa Marx
Melissa Range
Michael Griffin
Midwest Battery & Percussive Maintenance
Mike Mossman
Mike Walker
More Perfect Union
MT Bottle Brewing Company
Myra Su
Owen & JJs
Patricia Tinajero
Paul Karner (CHURCH)
Peter Krsko
Prairie Bluff Eagle Council
Puentes/Bridges
Rachel Comai & Olivia Dohner
Regina Flanagan
Reuben Ederer
Richard Cates
Rude Brew
Kombucha
Shotgun Holler
Collective
Simone Bethancourt
Sofia Subieta Mendez
Sweet Country Life
Tenny Albert
Thomas Cox
Tim Henning
Timberlake
Upcycling
Todd Statz
Tory Tepp
Tower Rock Bakery
Tywana German
Ursu Rueda
Veggie Emporium
WEdances
Wildside Action Sports
Will Stedden
William, Alma & Dean Gasser
WilloWood Inn
Wilson Creek Pottery
Wisconsin Public Radio
LooKing ahea D
Imagine thriving rural communities, deeply connected to their urban neighbors, where the essential work of farmers and artists is celebrated, where culture and creativity flourish, and where livings in the truest sense are made. This is the vision we’re working toward.
For 25 years, we’ve offered artists the chance to take risks in their work, and engage with the land that supports us all. Whether they stay for ten days, a growing season, or call this place home, artists become part of a vibrant exchange with farmers and neighbors—one that recognizes and builds on the creativity already rooted here. Things may feel more uncertain than ever, but artists— like farmers—are no strangers to adapting to “changing weather.” We remain committed to our work and hope that you’ll join us.
Here Be Dragons by Alicia Cosnahan, Peter Krsko, Donna Neuwirth, Tory Tepp, and Brian Sobaski
Photo: Katrin Talbot
I want to quarrel with your opposition of culture and nature. Culture is always cultivated nature–nature being tended and being taken care of by one of nature’s products called man. If nature is dead, culture will die too, together with all the artifacts of our civilization.
- Hannah Arendt
The World of Alebrije by Gabriela Jimémez Marván, Ryan Rothweiler, and Leonardo Linares
Photo: Katrin Talbot