TRAVERSE CITY — As the cherry orchards begin to produce their spring spectacle, Crooked Tree Arts Center-Traverse City presents “Agricultura,” an exhibition exploring and celebrating our relationship with the land.
“What this exhibit will hopefully achieve is to recognize the intricacies and importance of the many farms and farmers that are all around us,” said Crooked Tree gallery coordinator Brian Iler. “They are so much more than just passing pastoral settings for a nice Saturday drive, or merely breathtaking bucolic panoramas for the pretty painting over the couch. And there is a definite art to farming that this exhibit should revere and toast.”
The April 26 to May 25 juried show presents original works in all medium by visual artists from Northwest Michigan. Works offer interpretations on topics ranging from factory farming and farm-to-table concepts, to seeds, pollination and pesticides. It fosters discussion focused on ways agriculture shapes cultural identity and how art can serve as a catalyst for reimagining our relationship with the natural world.
“Having open space and farmland often gives you that sense of peace,” said painter Sherry McNamara. “There’s value in that which we don’t often appreciate and take for granted.”
McNamara’s affinity for agriculture stems from happy childhood experiences on her family’s farm. She teaches a Crooked Tree class on barn and structure painting. She said most of her students have a past or present connection to farm life.
McNamara, a plein air painter, has captured on canvas local orchards, vineyards and several historic barns and farmlands highlighting the region’s roots, including the Kelderhouse and Dechow farms at Port Oneida. She has also painted Moomer’s, the Iris and Cherry Basket farms, active farms shaping the region’s identity.
Art’s window onto agriculture for many people is “like coming home,” she said.
McNamara believes agriculture-themed art can tell the story of the region’s heritage while preserving a visual account of farming environments disappearing from the landscape.
Fifth generation Leelanau resident and painter Michelle Jahraus finds Leelanau “fuels her brushes and canvas.” She enjoys painting beaches, lavender fields and vineyards, pig and chicken portraits, but blooming orchards are among her favorite subjects.
“It’s the promise of what they have coming — and they are beautiful,” she said.
Jahraus owns Duck to Swan Gallery in Cedar where she interacts with art-loving customers.
“They like to see the older barns, houses and equipment – the way it used to be,” she said.
Jahraus’ portfolio includes Port Oneida scenes capturing heirloom plants grown from seeds collected from historic Manitou Island farms.
Crooked Tree’s “Agricultura” spotlights how and what the northwest Michigan community cultivates, a way of life slipping by, and sends a call to cherish both the past and the future.
“We all drive by these scenes, particularly in northern Michigan relatively often,” Iler said. “This will be an opportunity to see it with a new perspective.”
Artists 18 and older may submit to Crooked Tree Arts Center original works completed within the last three years. The show is open to all media and styles. Entry deadline is March 21.
