{"id":23180,"date":"2015-03-19T08:29:34","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T13:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=23180"},"modified":"2015-03-25T18:03:02","modified_gmt":"2015-03-25T23:03:02","slug":"museum-of-art-to-create-educational-garden-by-julie-skipper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/museum-of-art-to-create-educational-garden-by-julie-skipper\/","title":{"rendered":"Museum of Art to Create Educational Garden (by Julie Skipper)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jackson, Miss. (TLV) \u2013 In the restaurant and food world, \u201cfarm-to-table\u201d has become a buzz-worthy catchphrase in the past few years. However, in Mississippi, an agriculture-based economy means farm-to-table is a time-honored tradition. In that respect, the popularity of notions like supporting local farmers, starting community gardens and knowing where our food comes from is really just a return to our roots.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"MMA_Garden1\"<\/a>One Mississippi institution embracing the idea of providing greater access to freshly grown food product is the Mississippi Museum of Art<\/strong> in downtown Jackson. The Museum\u2019s goal is to \u201cengage Mississippians with visual art,\u201d according to Marketing Director Julian Rankin<\/strong>. When the Museum learned about an available grant from Whole Foods Market\u2019s Whole Cities Foundation to help children engage with fresh fruits and vegetables, it \u201cseemed a perfect fit,\u201d he continues.<\/span><\/p>\n

A key player in bringing together art and gardening is the Museum\u2019s Executive Chef, Nick Wallace<\/strong>. Wallace grew up on a farm in Edwards, Mississippi, and from childhood, he \u201csaw the impact of homesteading on a healthful lifestyle.\u201d That early influence became evident as he honed his culinary chops throughout his career as a chef.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before his current stint at the Museum of Art, Wallace served as the executive chef at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Jackson, where he oversaw construction of a large garden at the back of the property, along with a chef\u2019s table where he created special dinners using house-grown produce. The garden there provided interactions with hotel guests, \u201cto let them get their hands in [the dirt] and take fresh things home with them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"GEDSC<\/a>Wallace took his desire to get people eating freshly grown, healthful food even further when in 2012 he started a project at the Boys & Girls\u2019 Club in Jackson called Club Organix. He envisioned the project as a way to \u201cgive kids a different mindset\u201d about food that would translate into changing their whole family\u2019s approach. During the afternoon, kids got a chance to work in gardens, and at night when their parents picked them up, Wallace gave a cooking demonstration using the fresh produce and handed out recipes for them to cook at home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, thanks to the Whole Cities Foundation grant, Wallace can take that a step further and teach even more Mississippi children about growing and incorporating fresh foods into their lives. Wallace explains that currently, some 9500 schoolchildren from around the state visit the art museum annually, so the opportunity to touch a large number of young minds is\u2014pardon the pun\u2014ripe.<\/span><\/p>\n

The project started last month with a build-out of raised gardens that kids will help tend during museum visits. In addition to gardens, children will receive activity books and seeds to take home. Wallace sees this as an important way to positively impact the health of the state; he says imparting a mindset of fresh food as the way to eat \u201cchanges up the parameters of our [state\u2019s] future [health]\u201d because \u201ckids are the motivator\u201d for family meal decisions. He goes on, \u201cIf instead of saying, \u2018Mom, let\u2019s go through the drive-through,\u2019 a kid says, \u2018Mom, let\u2019s go to the farmers\u2019 market,\u2019 that will influence parents\u2019 decisions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Glennray<\/a>As for how food fits in with the setting of the art museum, Wallace admits that while now he thinks \u201cart is food, and it\u2019s a perfect match,\u201d it took him a little while to wrap his head around the idea. At first, it was with literal imagery: the museum\u2019s photorealistic paintings of mason jars full of vegetable and fruit preserves by Oxford-based artist Glennray Tutor<\/strong> began to work their way into Wallace\u2019s plating and presentation. He even incorporated one of Tutor\u2019s paintings on his business cards. But as Wallace settled into his role at the Palette Caf\u00e9 and catering museum functions, he began to find walks through the Mississippi Story gallery weaving their way through his creative thought process more and more. Now, he talks about plans to organize gallery talks with artists and himself and talk about how \u201cthe paintbrush is a knife.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He also started thinking about food, and the experience of growing and preserving, as art, as did the entire museum staff. Adds Rankin, \u201cEven before the Whole Cities grant, Nick started planting edible flowers in the Art Garden; the large plantings the Whole Cities grant will enable is an extension of these growing artworks\u2014they\u2019re edible, yes, but are also beautiful, living pieces.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Merging fresh food and art will continue to evolve as school groups pass through and staff and visitors collaborate. There also may be some truly organic growth of programming. As an example, both Wallace and Rankin point to a happy accident that became a favorite fresh food experience. Some time ago, an event at the museum evidently served watermelon, and some seeds that were spit out took root without anyone\u2019s knowledge. In time, the staff discovered an unplanned watermelon patch, which they were able to use as schoolchildren made use of the Museum\u2019s classroom space\u2014while on their breaks, the kids picked and enjoyed eating the fresh fruit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remaining open to opportunities that present themselves like that one and the Whole Cities Foundation grant will surely result in a more full experience for visitors to the museum for years to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mississippi Museum of Art is located at 380 South Lamar Street, Jackson, Mississippi<\/strong> and is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 am\u20135 pm, Sunday noon\u20135 pm. Visit msmuseumart.org<\/span> for more information.<\/span>\u00a0 \"The<\/a><\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

This article was originally printed in The Local Voice<\/em> #224 (published March 5, 2015.)<\/span>
\n To download a PDF of this issue, click here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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