Highlights, statistics and reflections from the 2011 Reedsburg Fermentation Fest.
The Fermentation Fest is an annual food and farming festival with a focus on fermentation in all its forms.
2. CULTURESHED (kul’cher-shed) noun.
1. A geographic region irrigated by streams of local
talent and fed by deep pools of human and natural
history. 2. An area nourished by what is cultivated
locally. 3. The efforts of writers, performers, visual
artists, scholars, farmers and chefs who contribute
to a vital and diverse local culture.
3. An annual food and farming festival with a
focus on fermentation - in all its forms
72. Landowners:
Based on your experiences at the 2011
Farm/Art Dtour, how likely are you to
participate in future tours and encourage
fellow landowners to participate?
75. Landowners:
A few weeks have passed since the
Farm/Art Dtour. Are there any
impressions/impacts of the event that
have stuck with you? What did you
“take away” from the event?
76. “Enjoyed the visitors and telling them about
farming. Couldn’t believe the visitors,
even during the week.”
“It gave a lot of people a chance to see
what rural life is like.”
“It brought the farm and town/city people
together in a very fun and unique way.
I think everyone enjoyed it.”
97. Wisconsin, especially the southern part
of the state, is a national leader in local
foods. The local food economy here is
one of the few places in the U.S. on the
cusp of filling and rebuilding wholesale
supply chains.
- California Environmental Associates,
Slow Money: Executive Summaries from Studies of Three
Regional Food Economies
98. Wisconsin has: the largest producer-only
farmers’ market in the country, some of
the largest and most established CSAs in
the country, and a leading national
organic brand.
- California Environmental Associates,
Slow Money: Executive Summaries from Studies of Three
Regional Food Economies
99. Wisconsin is #2 in organic farming
(behind California, a state with 6 times
its population), and is in the top 5 by
number of CSAs.
- California Environmental Associates,
Slow Money: Executive Summaries from Studies of
Three Regional Food Economies
100.
101.
102. Audience:
A few weeks have passed since the
Farm/Art Dtour. Are there any
impressions/impacts of the event that
have stuck with you? What did you
“take away” from the event?
103. “Enjoyed farm art. Visited Carr Valley
Cheese and have since taken the drive to
return for more yummy cheese.”
“I loved the drive out to a part of the
County I had never gone through before.
It made me see this County in a
different light.”
104. “I was struck by how interesting it was to
see the different forms of art put into rural
and farming landscape. I have 3 children
and being able to have them see many
artforms and going for a great drive on a
beautiful day was all indescribable. They
also learned some pretty interesting facts
about farming, crops, etc.”
105. “The interplay of art and nature, the
marrying of my two favorite things!”
106. “Two things stick out in my mind. The first
was the incredible beauty of the area and
the blending of the artwork with that
beauty. The second was the
conversations at the farm markets and
especially with the dairy farm family.
They were a refreshing revelation of a
young family apparently succeeding in
dairy farming when all the odds seemed
to be stacked against them. They alone
were worth the whole trip.”
107.
108. Creative Placemaking
In creative placemaking partners from public, private,
non-profit and community sectors strategically shape the
physical and social character of a neighborhood, town,
city or region around arts and cultural activities. Creative
placemaking animates public and private spaces,
rejuvenates structures and streetscapes, improves local
business viability and public safety, and brings diverse
people together to celebrate, inspire and be inspired.
Editor's Notes
We have been involved with creative placemaking at the intersection of food and farming since 2000. Creative placemaking is economic development with arts at its core. Tonight I want to share with you a bit about last year ’s Fermentation Fest before we go into more detail about creative economic development and the unique opportunities we have here in Reedsburg. We began FF in conjunction with Smithsonian Key Ingredients our goal was to Leverage this once in a lifetime opportunity to create an ongoing event that could have lasting impact So we have ferm fest -- Fermentation is transformation- from grain to beer, milk to cheese, cabbage to kimchi, hay field to stage. And from one sort of community to another ----- Meeting Notes (4/5/12 18:15) ----- wormfarm culture agriculture
classes and speakers are focused in downtown Reedsburg
Adrienne from Powerkraut
Dave Dietz – a friend of Fermentation
Lasagna gardening with Roger Reynolds
Lacto fermentation with Mike Bieser of Fizzeology
Chocolate –with Gail Ambrosious
Just as Key Ingredients was the Main course for year one of Ferm fest The Farm Art Dtour was the main course for 2011 The Dtour is a preime exaple of Creative Placemaking – economic development with art at its core
Jessop rd
The main attraction – the land
The Dtour is punctuated by several ephemeral –(temporary ) art installations often called site specific sculpture – several of these will be featured in an upcoming issue of Public Art Review and international art magazine published in St Paul Mn
Farm framed by David Wells
Wayfinder by Terrence Campagna of Detroit
Boots by Chris Letter of puppet farm arts – remember puppet fest?
Were not kidding about ephemeral – these boots withstood a huge storm
Field Weave by Randy Walker of Min Mn
Elec fence posts and heavy braided ribbon went on to have other lives after this piece
Truth by Cathy Bouzide of Chicago in collaboration with landowners Luttrops This very tempoarry piece was
Come What May by Katie Schofield – sometimes from Reedsburg
Sky Traps by Terrence Campagna
Tools of Toil by David Wells
This is a multi faceted event and we are targeting multiple populations Sauk County to be sure but also Chicago, Minn, Milwaukee and Madison We worked with UW Extension and River Falls Survey Center to collect data Random surveys were conducted
Part of an ongong project that dovetailed nicely with the DTOUR Artist built mobile farm stands This one by Homer Daehn of Baraboo
Crop hop dance team
Key ingredient to everything along the dtour
Wisconsin is famous for the number of self taught artist like Doc Evermore In this spirit we want to be sure to highlight the full spectrum of creativity
Seamons
A bright spot in the economy Wisconsin is at the forefront of the local food movement and foodies are a target market for this event
