Laura Annis is a recent transplant from Chicago and looks forward to being a part of the Farm/Art Dtour. Embellishing the corn crib is a wonderful opportunity to integrate art and the rural landscape. She hopes you enjoy experiencing art in this untraditional setting.

Visit her website at lauraannis.com

Raised and educated in many places, Alexis Ortiz is currently teaching and making art in Chicago. His own works “are each dramatic stories and exaggerated sentiments”. Using sculpture, illustration and movement to relay his very active imagination, Alexis has exhibited works in galleries, cafes and cultural centers from El Palmar to Killaloe. He is honored to be participating in the DTour and he looks forward to seeing the Art world in Reedsburg grow and prosper.

Alexis blogs at orejonejo.wordpress.com.

Breathing Room is a collaboration between Laura Annis and Alexis Ortiz where-in by using the structures of the 4 Corn Cribs and [agricultural] refuse, they have created an homage to that space we all need in order to relax and take in what is right in front of us. An extra set of communal lungs if you will, for a deeper better breath and understanding.

Cathi Bouzide’s art explores aging, agriculture, nature and science, the concepts of plenty and want, reuse, food systems, and being human through a variety of media including high-fired clay, artist books, events, growing, installation, found objects, fiber and cast metal.

She is inspired by corn and the sculptural aspect of the Midwestern landscape. She has found through the deep exploration of agriculture more than its history and imagery, but the fundamentals of humanity itself.

“For Truth in the Driftless Region the word TRUTH was mowed on the Luttrop farm hillside. I ask you to explore what you know as Truth and assume nothing. Finding TRUTH in soil. ‘The soil tells the TRUTH.’ Engaging others about their TRUTH. TRUTH in my own life. Truthiness, a word coined by Stephen Colbert, has been rolling around in my head for some time too. Speaking one’s TRUTH…another important need in this word of ours. Check back in winter to see the shadow of TRUTH as it may reappear with a light snowfall. Special thanks to Steve Nerka and the Luttrops.”

Visit Cathi’s website at casbah3d.com.

Terrence Campagna is a multi media artist and field researcher at the Neighborhood Center for the Study of Undocumented Relationships. His recent field work projects emerge from collections he makes on the surface of the Midwestern United States.

For the past several years his research has investigated the variety of objects that humans stick into the earth’s surface–from telephone poles and mailboxes, to light posts and bird feeders. For the D-Tour, Campagna will present Wayfinder, a sculpture inspired by an object that he believes humans stick into the earth’s surface more than any other–the common road traffic sign. Wayfinder is especially inspired by the color, geometry and latent complexity of ordinary traffic signs. To build Wayfinder Terrence gathered wood material from regional architectural forms–collapsed barns, corn cribs and other abandoned outbuildings in Sauk county.

In addition to Wayfinder, some of Terrence’s Sky Cage Traps will also be visible on the DTour route. The cage traps (also stuck into the earth’s surface), are made from stacked tomato cages. The cage traps are part of an ongoing attempt to make collections of the sky in the driftless region.

Visit his website at terrencecampagna.com.

Christopher Lutter-Gardella has been making puppets, masks, costumes, props, floats, sets and theatrical contraptions out of trash and stuff for many years. He spends about half his time designing and building unique stage-art for theater companies, movement organizations and other willing agencies—and the other half of his time designing and conducting school residencies and community arts programs. The third half of his time is spent performing puppets and masks, in conjunction with events, landscapes and people.

Chris also manages and directs Puppet Farm Arts —a humble non-profit community-arts organization, founded back when he used to squat in a barn with his collection of trash and puppets, in Wisconsin. The Boots on display on the DTour are part of this project.

Visit Christopher’s website at puppetfarmarts.org.

Katie Schofield is a visual artist based in the Midwest. For the past several years she has worked at the Wormfarm Institute as residency manager, program coordinator, and gallery assistant. She also dabbles in farming and will be spending this winter on a dairy goat farm and creamery in Michigan.

Using primarily discarded agricultural plastic, Come what may draws inspiration from the natural world. Birds, wasps and caterpillars all create places of transformation using the materials around them to provide shelter until they are ready to enter the world. Come what may uses the juxtaposition of natural forms and unnatural materials to explore the potential for change in all things, be it caterpillars, refuse, or ourselves.

Visit Katie’s website at kschofield.com.

Randy Walker received a degree in Architecture from the University of Oregon and worked extensively in that field before becoming an artist. His fiber sculpture ranges from small gallery-scale pieces to large outdoor public installations. He exhibits gallery work internationally and his public work can be found in Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Mexico. Walker has received grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, and Forecast Public Art. After Field Weave at the Wormfarm Institute, Walker will create a site-specific fiber installation using an 1875 steel truss bridge in rural Minnesota.

“In my installation, Field Weave, I have selected an agricultural field chosen for its picturesque setting and topography. I will spend time walking the site, examining views, slopes, and planting patterns already present. Then I will ‘plant’ my installation using colored acrylic fiber and slender poles. In the course of the installation, colors will overlap, weaving over a portion of the field. I have not planned any definite pattern for the installation beforehand, but will act intuitively while on site.”

Visit Randy’s website at randywalkerarts.com.

David Wells has pursued interdisciplinary interests as an exhibiting artist, consultant, gallerist/curator and arts administrator for over 30 years in both the business and non-profit sectors. He was Executive Director of Edenfred, the creative residency program of the Terry Family Foundation, in Madison, from 2004 through 2010. In this capacity he has developed the arts residency programs, a statewide forum for arts curators, and curates visual art exhibits for Edenfred and for Sundance Cinemas Madison.

Using old, defunct farm parts to “frame” different views of the landscape, David’s art project illustrates two different ways of seeing. Farmed Frame mimics a classical, fancy gold picture frame most frequently seen in a museum or very wealthy setting. We often perceive these expensive frames as meaning that the art they frame is especially costly. While the use of the rusted farm parts subverts the notion of the value of the frame, the style still refers to seeing the landscape as a premier, valuable asset. The view through this frame is expansive, richly articulated and emulates large, epic landscape paintings.

Tools of Toil is not symmetrical, utilizes many recognizable farm implement parts and harks more to the tradition of pastoral, local domestic paintings than grand landscapes. The worn and broken tools refer to the everyday labor required by the landscape’s inhabitants, the repetitive daily work that goes unseen in the sweeping views. This piece “frames” the narrative of rural life, annual cycles and repeated activities that define the rhythms of deriving a living from working in harmony with the land.