Wormfarm Annual Report 2024

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ANNuAL Rep OR t 2024

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WEALTH Farm Form, 2015 Farm/Art DTour

Can you believe it?

Wormfarm is celebrating 25 years.

That’s 25 years of defying expectations, working with a brilliant, scrappy team to reassert the culture in agriculture, and holding onto our ambitious vision that rural places are vital to the health, wealth, and well-being of us all.

In recent years, we’ve focused more than ever on how artists can expand what’s possible in these often-overlooked places of abundance. In 2024, the Farm/Art DTour returned for the third time to southern Sauk County, and the connections we’ve built here felt especially strong. From the joyful choreography of the Hay Rake Ballet, to artists creating site-responsive installations in working farm fields, to local farmers and small businesses feeling renewed appreciation for their craft—this year’s DTour brought new energy to our region.

We’ve also been looking ahead, imagining what a thriving rural future might look like, led by artists and writers in conversation with farmers, conservationists, and scientists. That vision includes a multi-year discovery process for a beloved historic site in the heart of neighboring farmland, and planning for Wormfarm’s own future.

We may be wiser than we were 25 years ago, but we still retain the nimble qualities that allow us to respond to the land and the moment in which we live. So read on.

See what we’ve built together this past year and join us for what comes next.

For thousands of years, art, music, and dance have been interwoven through rituals of planting and the harvest in celebration of the land and those who care for it. Through a contemporary approach and within this timeless context, we continue that tradition.

About Wormfarm 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.”

Farmed Frame by David Wells

Art amplifies what landscape quietly asserts.

- Max Garland, former Wisconsin Poet Laureate

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.

Farm/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 field and ask ourselves if what we were looking at was art or farming. After our first 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

Photo: Katrin Talbot Garden of Water and Wind by Sarah Kavage

2024

at a Glance

156

Commissioned 16 artworks by 20 artists

artist proposals received from

29 states & 15 countries

Collaborated with

14 farm hosts, 9 local organizations, 12 rural and farm-

$3-5 million

based businesses

Created a platform for 3 emerging artists to build their portfolio & reach a large audience

infused into the local economy according to Sauk County Development Corporation

Local businesses reported large increases in sales: one reported 10x what they normally would sell in a month, over the 10-day period!

Attracted national media attention from The New York Times and Hyperallergic as well as extensive local coverage

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

2002–05

2000– present

Series of local history murals

Artist Residency Program

2006–09

2010

2011

2012

Robert E. Gard Wisconsin Idea Award for Excellence

Hosted Smithsonian traveling exhibit, Key Ingredients: America

by Food

Premier of the Farm/Art DTour

Received a second ArtPlace grant

Reedikulus Puppet Festival

Fermentation Fest begins

Reenchantment of Agriculture

Sauk County Non-profit of the Year

Received one of only 34 ArtPlace America grants nationwide for creative placemaking in their initial round of funding

Highest ranked applicant statewide by a Wisconsin Arts Board grant review panel three years in a row for Fermentation Fest: A Live Culture Convergence

Wisconsin Governor’s Award in Support of the Arts

25 YEaRs

2013–14 Outstanding Contribution to Rural Life Award

of aRt + agRicultuRe

DComposition project begins

2015–16

2017–19

2020–23

2024

Chosen Top Rural Development Initiative by Wisconsin Rural Partners

DTour switches from annual to biennial event

Wisconsin Governor’s Cultural Tourism Award

Year Ten of the DTour

DTour featured on PBS Newshour

DTour continues despite pandemic with social distancing built-in

Leadership Wisconsin-Collaboration for Transformation Award Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts grant

Speaker at Food, Agriculture and Human Values Conference Test Plots begin

Discovery process begins for imagining a rural gathering place

Premiered the world's first Hay Rake Ballet Press coverage in The New York Times, Hyperallergic and Wisconsin State Journal

Witwen 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.

Photo: Ron Lutz

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: Katrin Talbot Revenant Canoe by Tory Tepp

The worst thing that could happen at Witwen Park would be for nothing to happen.

- Community member

Photo: Eric Baillies

Earth, Wind and Sky by Jongil Ma

Staff

Board of Directors

Advisors

Donna Neuwirth Executive Director

Sarah Lloyd President

Pat Alea

Jay Salinas Director of Special Projects & Outreach

Nicole Kite Vice President

Margot H. Knight

Philip Matthews Director of Programs Tanya Carney Program Manager Jean O’Neal Executive Assistant

Gary Goyke Treasurer Catherine Schwalbe Secretary Jay Salinas Donna Neuwirth

John Davis Curt Meine Abe Rybeck

FiNANCiALS 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 Donations Government Grants Earned Revenue Private Foundations

$499,053

Total Revenue

$594,119

$7,000

1.2%

$20,450

3.4%

$33,730 $33,886

5.7% 5.7%

84%

2024 Expenses Wormfarm has never had a deficit in its 25 years of operation.

Advertising & Marketing Professional Services Supplies & Equipment Printing, Postage Occupancy Other Expenses Travel: Artist/Team Contractors Artists Salaries & Benefits

$10,020 $14,670 $15,561 $17,753 $20,981 $34,864 $42,984 $67,294 $114,023 $255,969

Total Expenses

$594,119

1.7% 2.5% 2.6% 3.0% 3.5% 5.9% 7.2%

43.1%

11.3% 19.2%

Rural/Urban Hartmut Ringel Adam Weiss FLOW Hausner Farms Adunate Word & Samuel Cantor Design Hillsboro Brewing (Minor Moon) Company Alan & Laurie Sarah Butler Dischler Hispanic Knights Sarah Kavage of Columbus Alanna Medearis Sauk County ID Signs Aldo Leopold Home & Foundation Jane Kohlman & Community Jerry Leister Alicia Cosnahan Education (HCE) John Himmelfarb Andrew Marczak Sauk County (Orillia) Jongil Ma Land Resources & Andy Enge Joni Derdzinski Environment Angus Mossman Junior’s Tavern Sauk Prairie Austin Segrest Area Chamber of Karl Koweski Commerce Ayres Associates Katrin Talbot Sauk Prairie Barbara L. Garvoille Kevin Enge DTOuR Conservation Been Family Farm Kraemer Library & Alliance (Apple Grant Community Center Corps) Brian Markley Lil Market & More Brian Sobaski SupPort Sauk Soil Water & Improvement Lisa Hartman Brix Cider Group (SSWIG) Lish Ciambrone Caley Conway National Endowment Savanna Institute Little Eagle Arts Carol & Ed for the Arts Foundation (LEAF) Scott Sprecher Patterson ArtPlace America Scottie McDaniel Catherine Schwalbe LK Signs & Marshall Prado Sauk County Lydia Park Cathy McCauley, Shawn Schell Pamela Self & Madigan Burke Wisconsin Arts Board Shari Gullo Shawndell Marks Martina “mars” Andy Warhol Foundation Cedar Grove Shotgun Holler Patterson Cheese Collective Educational Foundation Matthew Vivirito Chrissy Shegonee Simone of America MdW Bethancourt Cricket Design Melissa Marx New Pluralists Works Sofia Subieta Melissa Range Common Field Mendez Dale Jaedike Michael Griffin Sweet Country Dan S. Wang Builders Initiative Midwest Battery Life Darin Rosenbaum Funding Good Chaos & Percussive Tenny Albert Driftless Berry Maintenance Ruth Arts Thomas Cox Cooperative Mike Mossman Tim Henning Dry River Goats Hoke Family Mike Walker Timberlake Echo Valley Farm Foundation More Perfect Union Upcycling Edible Madison Nayar Foundation MT Bottle Brewing Todd Statz El Tigre Mezcal Company Hegner Family Tory Tepp Elm Duo Myra Su Foundation Tower Rock Bakery Em J. Parsley Owen & JJs Tywana German WI Humanities Emily Benz Patricia Tinajero Ursu Rueda Explore Sauk County Paul Karner Veggie Emporium (CHURCH) Felix B. Sainz, Jr. WEdances Peter Krsko Four Elements Wildside Action Organics Prairie Bluff Eagle Sports Council Freedom Pines Will Stedden Puentes/Bridges Freethinkers’ Hall William, Alma & Rachel Comai & Gabriela Jimenez Dean Gasser Olivia Dohner Marvan, Leonardo WilloWood Inn Linares & Ryan Regina Flanagan Rothweiler Wilson Creek Reuben Ederer Pottery Genevieve Vahl Richard Cates Wisconsin Public Glitzy Garden Rude Brew Radio Hannah Perry Kombucha

2024 ARtists, CollaboRators, & Partners

LooKing aheaD 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.

Photo: Katrin Talbot

- Hannah Arendt

The World of Alebrije by Gabriela Jimémez Marván, Ryan Rothweiler, and Leonardo Linares 28 E. Main St. Reedsburg, WI 53959 Help us continue for another 25 years – donate today!

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