farm to fair - the project

The rich food legacy of the Indiana State Fair is often overlooked by the sensationalism of deep-fried butter and chocolate covered bacon.

Each year over 900,000 visitors come to the Fairgrounds from every county in the state to sample Indiana-grown food and celebrate the state’s deep agricultural roots.

When the first Indiana State Fair was held in 1842 the state’s entire economy revolved around farming and agricultural products. Until 1925, most of the population resided in rural areas or on farms and lived the connection between livestock, crops and food.

Almost a century later, most Hoosiers are generations away from rural life and the connection from soybeans to dairy cows to butter have been lost. This exhibit would connect the Normandy Barn – Central Indiana’s most recognizable agricultural building, with the talents of Douglas David – Indiana’s most celebrated painter.

Douglas will create a series of paintings what will illustrate the connection of crops and livestock to the food that is served at the Indiana State Fair. The show will be hung in the upper level of the magnificent Normandy Barn and be open for all seventeen days of the State Fair in August of 2011.

The exhibit will include text by writer, Nora Spitznogle connecting the fair food to the commodity origins, to further add to the educational component of the show. The gallery will appeal to art lovers, fair food aficionados, farmers, producers and children.