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"Bringing Art and Agriculture Together" is the theme of the Fields Project, a nine day art program that includes lodging on a working farm while creating art, in the scenic Rock River Hill Country of Oregon, Illinois.
This is a unique project that focuses public attention on art, agriculture, and natural resources while creating new relationships between artists, farmers, environmentalists, and educators.
I was chosen as one of four nationwide visiting artists to create a monumental Field Sculpture artwork for the Eleventh Annual Fields Project.
My winning design celebrates the endangered Monarch butterflies' unique migration journey which travels through these fields. The design reflects what the butterflies stand for – beauty, freedom, hope and transformation. The Monarch butterfly is the state insect of Illinois.
My original 4"x7" design was enlarged and mapped with a grid of flags onto the 7 acre field before it could be mowed into the grassland. The Field Sculpture is designed to be viewed and photographed from the air.
In scorching heat of over 95 degrees, no breeze, and humidity levels beyond any scale permitted by law, we worked together with a group of volunteers led by Joseph Popp, the executive director of the program, and Maja Shoemacher, the head of the Fields Sculpture program.
It took several days of hard work; tracking through high grassland vegetation. Covered from head to toe, trying to avoid getting skin burns from contact with Wild Parsnip, we flagged our designs into the fields. The design was then mowed by a skilled farmer driving a large tractor (thank you Marty Wittig!). It was impossible to assess the outcome of this great scale artwork from within the field. On Friday we got to fly over the fields. In his small 4-seat Piper Cherokee, Darrell Janssen enabled us to see the amazing outcome of our week's work. What an exhilarating feeling.
I worked together with 3 great artists:
In the press:
To learn more about the Fields Project please visit: www.fieldsproject.com