MoCA Westport and the Westport Farmers’ Market (WFM) announce a new exhibition entitled Between the Ground and the Sky on view August 27 – October 17, 2021. 

Between the Ground and the Sky features photography from the Who Grows Your Food initiative, an intimate photographic journey celebrating the beloved farms and farmers associated with the Westport Farmers’ Market.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is more than 50 large-scale photographs, both color and black and white, of local farms by Anne Burmeister and Ashley Skatoff, two local accomplished photographers. The photographs tell a compelling and visually arresting story of the importance of local farms and farmers. The Who Grows Your Food initiative was developed by the Westport Farmers’ Market during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic as a means to educate people on the role that local farmers play in providing food for the community.  The farms included are:

  • Calf and Clover Creamery, Cornwall Bridge, CT
  • Copps Island Oysters, Norm Bloom and Son, Norwalk, CT
  • Dirt Road Farm, Weston, CT
  • Fort Hill Farm, New Milford, CT
  • Gilbertie’s Organics, Easton, CT
  • Ideal Fish, Waterbury, CT
  • Lost Ruby Farm, Norfolk, CT
  • Muddy Feet Flower Farm, Ashford, CT
  • Ox Hollow Farm, Roxbury, CT
  • Riverbank Farm, Roxbury, CT
  • Rose’s Berry Farm, Glastonbury, CT
  • Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm, Old Lyme, CT
  • Sea Coast Mushrooms, Mystic, CT
  • Sport Hill Farm, Easton, CT
  • Stonington Kelp Co., Stonington, CT
  • The Hickories, Ridgefield, CT
  • Wells Hill Farm, Weston, CT
  • Woodland Farm, Glastonbury, CT

The exhibition also includes two site-specific installations by Kristyna and Marek Milde, and the natural, organic works of artist Donna Forma.

Kristyna and Marek Milde are a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist duo originally from Prague, Czech Republic. Their works explore environmental issues and the alienation of contemporary lifestyles. In their art practice, they create installations, in-situ interventions, and public art, functioning as immersive platforms for engagement and experience and connecting culture and nature.

Donna Forma is a Southport, CT-based artist known for her deconstruction and reconstruction of the components of deceptively simple natural forms, exposing the layers of complexity hidden in plain sight all around us.

Additionally, related works created by attendees of MoCA Westport’s Camp MoCA, a weekly summer camp for ages 3-13, will be on view. As part of the camp curriculum, campers will participate in a series of agriculture and gardening-related projects designed to build awareness of, and appreciation for, the role of farming in our community.

Lori Cochran, Director of the Westport Farmers’ Market, stated, “This program embodies the essence of our organizations. Bringing together art, education, community and knowledge of agriculture, featuring the hands that tend the land, results in more than a fun event – it creates an impact that will last a lifetime. Working with Anne and Ashley through their journey of these farms, it seemed only natural to find a home at MoCA Westport to share their stories.”

MoCA Westport Executive Director Ruth Mannes said of the collaboration, “Our expansive outside grounds are a perfect way to introduce our campers to agriculture and gardening. We are thrilled to partner with the Westport Farmers’ Market to share this important aspect of our economy and our lives with the public.”

Between the Ground and the Sky will be on view during MoCA Westport’s Fall 2021 Hours. To learn more about the exhibition, contact Liz Leggett, MoCA Westport’s Director of Exhibitions, at liz@mocawestport.org or 203/222-7070. To learn more about the Who Grows Your Food initiative, contact Lori Cochran, Director of the Westport Farmers’ Market, at director@westportfarmersmarket.com.

We deeply appreciate the support of our Exhibition Sponsor, CTFN Lite. The service offers updates on global M&A for market participants seeking to augment their investing knowledge. Derived from CTFN’s real-time market-leading news and curated by expert analysts and reporters in key capital cities around the globe, CTFN Lite is a time-delayed, data-enhanced digest of a selection of CTFN’s market-leading coverage.

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Learn more about the Who Grows Your Food movement in this video created by 4th Row Films.

More About The Photographers

Photographer Anne Burmeister is a farm kid from the Midwest. She has worked as an attorney and advocate for food security on both Coasts, but always with a camera close at hand. This project has allowed her to share her deep regard for farmers and the inherent beauty in their labors.  Anne lives in Westport with her family where she is also on the board at Wakeman Town Farm.

Ashley Skatoff is a photographer based in Westport, CT.  She worked as a business consultant in New York City prior to studying design at Parsons and starting a family.  Largely self taught, Ashley pursues projects that express an authenticity in humanity and nature.

More About Donna Forma

Forma’s grandfather, a superb gardener, chemist and inventor, introduced her to the wonders of nature at a young age. She started out as a traditional carver of stone and wood, and often found herself transferring the beauty of human forms and rhythms with the natural world, and vice versa. Many of her pieces have the feel of something you might come upon while walking.  They are types of shelters and hives, mimicking the human condition of what we do in life, making us feel we are somewhat in control, but not completely, as we do what we can to protect those we love. The National Sculpture Society elected her as one of only 179 Sculptor members, and awarded her the Lantz Award for Contemporary Sculpture in the Traditional Mode. Other awards include The Connecticut Commission on the Arts Fellowship, and top prizes at many group shows. Solo exhibitions include OK Harris (NYC), Flinn Gallery (Greenwich), Curtis Gallery (New Canaan), EBK Gallery (Hartford), and Five Points Gallery (Torrington). Her sculptures can be viewed by appointment in her studio and gallery in Southport, CT.

More About The Mildes

Kristyna and Marek Milde are Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artists duo originally from Prague, Czech Republic. Their works explore environmental issues and alienation of contemporary lifestyles. Mildes focus on deepening the awareness and relationship to place both private and public to reveal the wider and hidden context of everyday reality. In their art practice, they create installations, in-situ interventions and public art functioning as immersive platforms for engagement and experience connecting culture and nature.

The Mildes exhibit and present their work internationally in solo and group exhibitions including at Gallery G18, Zlin, CZ (2019), Westbeth Gallery, NYC (2019), Queens Museum, NYC (2018), Flux Factory, NYC (2018), Wave Hill, NYC (2017, 2014), Hudson Valley MoCA, Peekskill NY (2016); Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia (2015), EFA Project Space, NYC (2015), Smack Mellon Gallery, Brooklyn, (2014), Abrons Art Center, NYC (2013), DOX Center for Contemporary Art, Prague, Czech Republic (2013), Meet Factory, Prague, CZ (2013), Museum of Modern Art MoMA Studio, NYC (2012), Futura, Prague, CZ (2012), Karlín Studios, Prague, CZ (2012), Galerie Califia, Horazdovice, CZ (2011), NURTUREart, NYC (2011).

Featured Images Above (from top): 1) Anne Burmeister: Ox Hollow Farm, Roxbury, CTand 2) Ashley Skatoff: Lost Ruby Farm, Norfolk, CT