Bringing Artists and Agriculture Together

JUNE 14 - 22, 2008

Call to Artists - PleinAir Painters, Photographers, Sculptors, Earthwork/Field Sculptors

LOCATION: Beautiful Rock River Valley surrounding Oregon, IL.

THE VISION: Encourage the appreciation of the relationship of AGRICULTURE to art and ART to agriculture.

THE MISSION: Bring artists to this community to interact with farmers and the land. Artists working in all visual arts media will create works identifying with the theme "Bringing Art and Agriculture Together".

OBJECTIVES: Focus public attention on art, agriculture, and our natural resources. Create new relationships between artists, farmers, environmentalists, and educators.

OFFERINGS TO ARTISTS: Painters/Photographers/Sculptors - The scenic Rock River Valley with its historical sites, sandstone outcroppings, and typical Midwest farms provides endless subject matter for artistic expression. Earthwork/Field Sculptors - An opportunity to "paint with the land" by cutting/mowing flora on up to 15 acres (primarily designed to be viewed/photographed from the air). Equipment and manpower will be available for selected earthwork designs. Lodging and interaction with local farm families. Special events and site-related tours relating to the local historical arts and rural community. Airplane rides free to the participating artists and to the public for a fee (Saturday, June 21 & Sunday, June 22).

Fields Project Arts Festival (June 22, 2008): For all participating artists held at Mix Park, Oregon. A 10% commission on sales will be taken on day of the Art Festival.

Student Project: High school art students, county-wide, and their instructors work together to create a 10-15 acre earthwork sculpture and discover connections to the agricultural community. Students gain experience in grant writing, networking, creative and cooperative problem solving, as well as the technical applications required to give their creation real form. The student project is an extraordinary opportunity for their work to be translated to an unusual scale and to be viewed from an uncommon perspective, in an airplane 1,000 feet up.

The Rock River Valley is known geologically as the Rock River Hill country. This area is rich in woodland parks and prairie vegetation. The beauty of this area has inspired artists for over one hundred years. The Eagles' Nest Art Colony, founded by Lorado Taft, instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago, settled here in 1898. Many artists and art associations continue this heritage of artistic expression throughout the year.

2006 Field Sculpture entitled “Corn” designed by Catherine Schwalbe-Bouzide from Chicago.