For
the past four years, the day to day work has been
carried out by an AmeriCorps volunteer. This includes
planting, tending, and harvesting the fibers.
Occasionally, neighboring gardeners call us to
harvest their decorative grasses or flower stems
and leaves. After the plants are harvested they
are hung to dry. Over the course of the winter
the fibers are cut up, cooked, and beaten. Then,
test sheets are pulled to determine the capacity
of the fibers. The ArtFarm project has now tested
over 100 native plants for their fiber strength,
coloring capacities, print worthiness, and translucency.
In 2002, three regional artists were invited
to work with the fibers. For this project Eugenie
Barron, a master papermaker, joined the staff.
Ken Gray, a printmaker; Talya Baharal, a sculptor;
and Allison Knowles, a fluxus artist; each spent
a week working with Eugenie on a new body of
work incorporating the ArtFarm fibers and papers.
A traveling exhibit of this work, titled "From
Seed to Sheet", opened at Marist College
Gallery, in Poughkeepsie, NY in January, 2004.
This exhibition then traveled to the American
Museum of Papermaking and six universities across
the country.
|
