‘Culture Crops’ exhibit celebrates Ohio’s food history

Miami University and the Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum (RCCAM) have opened their newest exhibit, titled “Culture Crops,” which utilizes multimedia elements to showcase state food and culture. 

The exhibit, which has taken two years to put together, is an exploration of the universal connections between people and their food, according to the Miami website.

The focus of the collection is on the families, individuals and communities who grew the food at a local level, according to Jason Shaiman, interim director and curator of exhibits at RCCAM.

“There was a lot of diversity in those stories,” Shaiman said. “The people involved represent (a) tremendous diversity of cultural backgrounds (and) ethnicities.”

Included in the exhibit are photographs from fine arts photographer Tina Gutierrez that celebrate Ohio’s food growing communities, stories and history.

Gutierrez’s involvement with the project as a photographer led to the idea of including more multimedia elements to the exhibit, causing photographer Asa Featherstone, IV to join the crew to create video elements for the project. 

“It takes the story further,” Shaiman said. “(It) gives an opportunity not just to see, but to hear the stories.”

Featherstone, IV’s role in this project allowed for interviews to be conducted with the individuals highlighted in Gutierrez’s photographs.

Alan Wight, assistant professor at The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences and school and community garden liaison for the University of Cincinnati, also participated in the project to give input on food history and to construct a narrative, according to Shaiman. 

The exhibit itself, co-curated by Shaiman and Jack Green, director and chief curator of the RCCAM, consists of 31 original photographs.

The largest photos in the exhibit are 60-by-40 inches, with the smallest ones reaching 36-by-24 inches, according to Shaiman.

Shaiman hopes that visitors will find their own definition of what food really means to them through this exhibit.

“Tina’s concepts, Asa’s capturing (of) who these people are, verbally and emotionally, (and) Alan’s writing … it really solidified and has come together (into) a really good looking exhibit,” Shaiman said.

The exhibit is also a part of Ohio’s America 250 project, which aims to celebrate the country’s 250th year, and the RCCAM will host related programs focusing on Ohio’s America 250.

On Feb. 21 from 2 to 3:30 p.m., the creatives who worked on the exhibit – Gutierrez, Featherstone and Wight – will host a panel discussion about “Culture Crops.” 

On April 25 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., a series of short presentations, gallery talks, art activities and cooking demonstrations will be held.

Additionally, the RCCAM is working in partnership with the Oxford Community Arts Center (OCAC) to curate a community photography project aiming to capture locally sourced, grown or cooked food that will be included in a photo mural at the RCCAM and a special exhibit at the OCAC in May.

The exhibit, which began on Jan. 27, will run until June 13 at the RCCAM. 

Once the exhibit concludes at the RCCAM, it will become a part of the museum’s permanent collection and will tour to Northern Kentucky University in the fall.

More information about the exhibit can be found on the Miami website.