The Lost Sierra Food Project recently announced a spring gallery tour with local artists inspired by Rugged Roots Farm and the nonprofit’s mission. The project is called Cultivate and it is both an art residency and community engagement project funded by the California Arts Council through the Upstate California Creative Corps.
Organizers report that during a 6-month residency, four Plumas County artists have created meaningful art capturing the essence of local connection to food, farms and relationships to the land that sustains communities.
Lost Sierra Food Project and the Cultivate artists are hosting a community engagement gallery tour March through June with four stops in Plumas County. The community is invited to experience the art created during the residency.
Starting in Portola at Headwaters Cafe, Cultivate art will be on display from March 12 to 19. The display will then move to the Mohawk Community Resource Center in Blairsden, where it can be viewed from March 19 to April 20. On the afternoon of April 20 from 4 to 6 p.m. the community is invited to the Mohawk Community Resource Center to meet the artists, enjoy snacks and engage with LSFP staff and volunteers.
The gallery tour ends in June at Plumas Arts in Quincy with the second community reception and another opportunity to engage with the art and artists. This event will coincide with the First Friday gallery openings June 7, from 5 to 7 p.m., and includes a fundraising silent auction of the Cultivate works. The project will also be featured in a discussion at the next Dixie Fire Collaborative meeting in Greenville on Saturday, May 18.
At the two Cultivate receptions on April 20 and June 7, community members are encouraged to engage with the artists and Lost Sierra Food Project staff and volunteers. Organizers report that the events include interactive elements to gauge community needs and dreams around food and farm access. The mission of the Lost Sierra Food Project is to increase access to local foods for Plumas County residents, prioritizing underserved populations, provide workforce development programs, and create educational food and farming opportunities. Currently the bulk of LSFP’s programs are located in Quincy, but the grassroots group hopes to serve all the communities in Plumas County one day.
About the Cultivate artists
Four local artists were paid a stipend from the project grant allowing them to explore new mediums and techniques. Each artist took a different approach, but all spent time at Rugged Roots Farm drawing inspiration from the plants, people, landscape and LSFP’s agriculture education programs.
Amy Napoleon, a Quincy-based relief artist, carved bold images of Rugged Roots farmers and crops, communicating both the power and simplicity of growing food for the local community. Napoleon is both an artist and art teacher, sharing her passion for nature, social justice and growing food with folks of all ages.
Multimedia metal artist Presley Alexander brought her love of flowers and recycled objects to the project. She created a “show-stopper” lantern featuring cheerful pink cosmos grown as pollinator forage. “The opportunity to participate in the Cultivate art/food/community project is a satisfying full-circle moment for me,” said Alexander. “As a former organic farmer and local food system advocate, I now get to bring my artistic skills back to the farm.”
Rebecca Glaspy, Taylorsville-based fiber artist, experimented with natural dyes and plant printing to transform thrifted fabrics into functional art. “As an artist who loves to make beautiful things from nothing, I love this type of art,” she said. “I grow the dye plants, I repurpose old fabric, then I sew the natural dyed pieces into something new and useful.”
And lastly, Emma Talamantes, an Oakland transplant and LSFP staff member, painted scenes from the farm at the height of growing season, including a landscape painting from a dramatic Dixie Fire photo, communicating the importance of place and access to fresh foods.
To learn more about the project, read about the artists and their process, and find the dates for community events, visit www.lostsierrafoodproject.org/cultivate.
Information submitted by Lost Sierra Food Project