Project Raises Awareness by Telling the Story of Small Farms
by REBEKAH PIERCE
When most people think of art installations, they don’t think about 5-foot-tall hay bales. But that’s precisely what a recent project at the University of Florida featured.
Rosemary (Rosie) Springer, a recent graduate of the sculpture and studio art master’s program, served as project lead. Raised in Missouri on a third-generation dairy farm, much of her art was already centered around the themes of small family farms and farm labor. When artist Mel Chin was invited to campus as part of the York Distinguished Lecture Series (along with agronomist Rufus Chaney), Springer saw firsthand that it’s not just possible to bridge art and agriculture, but powerful.
Then, the competition was announced.
The Dr. E.T. and Vam C. York Art and Agriculture Competition invites students from the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and the UF College of Arts to join forces in developing a project that marries the disciplines of art and science. In the inaugural year of 2024, Springer and her aforementioned hay bale project came home with the win.
But, since collaboration is at the heart of this competition’s purpose, she certainly didn’t do it alone. She teamed up with Cassandra Goff, a PhD student in the Agriculture Education and Communication Department, and with Madison Dyment and Jason Dossett (also agriculture majors). The project was overseen by faculty including Katerie Gladdys (the lead faculty mentor) and Sean Miller, head of the sculpture department.
Interested students must submit a thorough proposal from teams of up to three members from either or both the College of Agricultural and Life Science and the College of the Arts. Projects are judged on the bases of innovation, achievability, scientific and artistic merit, and engagement. The winning team receives $5,000, with funds individually allocated to scholarship funds, supplies, travel expenses, and project implementation.
“The project was inspired by the idea that there is so much richness to [gain] from crossing boundaries and getting out of your silos,” explains Dr. Dina Liebowitz, Director of the Plant Science program.
The idea started with the same lecture series that inspired Springer to think outside the box. “A lot of times people have creative ideas and no outlet to make it happen. This [competition] just becomes the ability to make something tangible,” explains Liebowitz, elaborating that often, the barriers that get in the way of collaboration and innovation are finances and time. This project provides students both, while also allowing them to publicly highlight the incredible work they’re doing.
For the winning project in 2024, Springer and her team wrapped hay bales with the stories of five small family farms throughout the United States. After interviewing each farm, then printed the stories on fabric that was then used to wrap the bales.
“The goal wasn’t to argue any specific point but to display a new perspective,” Springer says. It’s easy, she explains, to see the finished product of a hay bale sitting out in a field, but what often goes unseen is the labor and toil, the history of the land, the weather, all the things that are metaphorically inside the hay bales.
“We made a field, but also combined fields,” she elaborates, going on to explain that the project created a field of five literal hay bales, but also blended the fields of agriculture and art. This occurred not just on campus, as members of the agriculture and arts departments worked together to create the finished product, but between the farms. “They were unified through the labor, the dedication to the land, as well as the people they were serving all across America [with the labor] on their farms.”
Quite aptly, the project was titled, “In the Fields,” and was displayed both inside and outside of the gallery at the University of Florida.
The other team members speak fondly of the experience as well. Goff grew up on an alfalfa and cattle farm (that now specializes in pistachios) in New Mexico. A PhD student at the university, she felt that the project was a wonderful way to communicate with individuals without connections to agriculture. “We were able to share our story in a way we don’t normally get to,” she says, explaining that her typical publications are in journals or extension outreach. “This was more accessible and available to people who may not see or be involved in agriculture.”
Moving forward, Springer, Goff, and Liebowitz all agree that it would be wonderful to see more cross-specialization, coordinating, and working together in fields that aren’t always aligned. “We need to help each other,” Goff says. “We have these different strengths and assets and [need to start] helping each other share these stories.”
While art and agriculture might seem worlds apart, this competition demonstrates that they have much more in common than people think. “It’s all very similar,” Goff adds, highlighting the parallels in how each of the family farms, though states apart and operating in different ways, had much more in common than she expected. “It’s people taking care of other people…taking care to produce the best product.”
“I think this will continue to grow,” Springer says. “People will see [it] as an opportunity to [move from] barely having an understanding of one field…to reach a large audience by working with other fields and broadening your idea of something.”
Students who are interested in creating a submission for this year’s competition can do so by viewing the call for proposals on the York Art & Agriculture Collaboration Teams Channel, available on the University of Florida website, or by contacting Liebowitz at dinalieb@ufl.edu.