Art Everywhere Forever

It's always a happy blur recalling the fast passing time we affectionately call "the holidays," Thanksgiving, Art Basel, Hannukah,  Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Years, Three Kings, and finally Martin Luther King Day. 

This year, more memorable than most as we continue to navigate a rapidly changing social and physical environment. What is the work we all choose to contribute to our global wellbeing at this time? Healing, in all forms is so imporant. And truth. 

This year, for the first time since before the pandemic, I made it to three of South Florida's iconic #MiamiArtWeek fairs and at each I was surprised with the messages of remembrance and determination. At Art Basel, the piece I went looking for by Julie Buffalohead was even more brilliantly impactful than I had imagined with its bright blue background and creative cast of characters illustrating the ongoing creation of the universe. 

At Spectrum I was overjoyed to present my own debut alongside an incredible body of work on canvas created in a collaboration with rescued chimpanzees and the 1990s  teenage sensation B-52s.

At Art Miami my favorite piece was the life sized printing screens installed like giant dominoes in a sculpture garden. 

I also visited the Night Garden at Fairchild Tropical Garden for the first time, bringing a new understanding of nature immersion with lights cascading across dappled screens of trees, shrubs and flowers. 

Today, two new opportunities to engage with  Indigenous art and artists opens up. In Hollywood this week, the Tibetan Sacred Arts Tour makes a visit to Seminole Okalee Village across from Seminole Classic Casino to build a sand mandala for world peace while also sharing art and teachings from their monastic tradition. Sacred Arts Tour

Today in Winter Park, "Yaat Ya Oke: Welcome Travellers," a new exhibition featuring 27 Seminole artists opens at the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens. On through April 14, the exhibition includes contemporary works in acrylic, watercolor, digital art, glass beads, mixed media, natural fibers, found cardboard, photography and sculpture. Details, hours and directions

Next up: Water for Peace Day... 

Stay tuned!

Tara

An adventure in ameliorating agriculture!

A few years ago, I came across a call to serve on a federal advisory committee, the first ever created specifically to look at ways to improve the effectiveness of urban agriculture and innovative production. "The 2018 Farm Bill directed USDA to create this committee to advise the Secretary of Agriculture on the development of policies and outreach relating to urban, indoor, and other emerging agricultural production practices as well as identify any barriers to urban agriculture." (https://www.usda.gov/partnerships/federal-advisory-committee-urban-ag) 

Over six hundred people from across the country responded to that call, assembling their resumés, letters of support from their networks, personal statements about why they wanted to volunteer a year or more to serve on a start up committee. I decided to send in my own literary assemblage of work experience illustrations because it was the end of the second year of the pandemic and food access was still at the top of mind for me, my family and my community. I never thought there would ever be a chance that I would be chosen as one of the twelve inaugural members of the federal advisory committee on urban agriculture and innovative production. But to my great surprise, and no doubt due to the lovely letters of support that were so kindly prepared by colleagues and former colleagues at Rural Coalition and Indigenous Peoples Task Force, Secretary Vilsak chose me! https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/newsroom/dem/press/release/usda-announces-inaugural-federal-advisory-committee-on-urban-agriculture 

These past twenty four months have provided space and time to hold an incredibly enriching journey in capacity building, policy analysis, and creative collaboration. Through addressing and meeting our statutory mandate to attend 3-4 public meetings per year, my colleagues and I reviewed over 1000 written public comments, heard over 100 oral comments, and synthesized these into over 20 draft and 20 passed recommendations for the improvement of urban agriculture and innovative production in the United States. 

Our committee's first ever report to the US Secretary of Agriculture was sent in on September 30th. A second will be forthcoming this autumn. 

I am extremely proud to have been able to play a key role in the start up and initial implementation of the Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Federal Advisory Committee, and look forward to seeing the work we began continue to impact the field of agriculture in years to come. 

Sincerely,

Tara A. Chadwick,

Elected Co-Chair 2023,

Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production

Federal Advisory Committee 2022-2024

PS here is a sample of our meeting minutes - which are now also available in Spanish - if you need them in a different language or format - just email and ask! Comité Asesor de Agricultura Urbana y Producción Innovadora del ... - USDA https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/uaipac-public-meeting-minutes-08012023-en-espanol.pdf