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Farm Life Exhibition Opens DEC 15 At Eastland County Museum
12/10/2007 - The twentieth century brought profound changes for farm families and their neighbors. In 1900, 42% of the U.S. population worked in agriculture, but by 2000, less than 2% of the population was involved in farm production. Still, through generations of dramatic economic and social change, some families have maintained their connections to farming, their land, and the rural communities in which they live and work. Why do some families steadfastly hold on to this way of life while others choose to leave? What institutions can they rely on? What new strategies do they have to use to survive?
Farm Life: A Century of Change for Farm Families and Their Neighbors asks these and many other questions while offering visitors a view into life on a working farm. This exhibition, rather than focusing on the technology of farming, examines what it means for a family to live and work on the land.
Farm Life is divided into four sections: the farmhouse, fields, barn, and gathering places in the larger community. In each section, photographs, objects, and labels tell the story of life on a farm. Through these items and other interactive pieces, audiences who view Farm Life learn about the social, economic, and cultural framework of farms and their surrounding communities. Though the starting place is a Chippewa Valley, Wisconsin farmstead around 1950, universal themes of family and community are addressed, touching on issues that resonate with farming and non-farming viewers alike.
This exhibition has been made possible through NEH on the Road, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is brought to Eastland County by Mid-America Arts Alliance. Farm Life: A Century of Change for Farm Families and Their Neighbors was organized by The Chippewa Valley Museum, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and is based on a larger exhibition permanently installed in their galleries.
Come join us Saturday, December 15, 2007 from 10:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. for our Exhibit Opening Country Festival featuring a country cafe, 1800 spinning demonstrations and more.
The exhibit will run through January 19, 2008 and is free to the public. More activities are being planned in conjunction with this exhibit.
Museum hours are: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday through Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
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