{"id":87,"name":"Donna Neuwirth","url":"","description":"After many years in art and theater in Chicago, Wormfarm co-founders Donna Neuwirth and Jay Salinas moved to a small farm in Wisconsin in 1993. Seduced by the life in the soil and struck by the parallels in process between farming and art making, they formed the Wormfarm Institute in 2000 and began an Artist Residency program. Donna has a BFA in Theatre from The Art Institute of Chicago. After a brief career in professional theater she operated a scenic design company that specialized in themed special events. A self-described Impresario, Donna\u2019s event work continued on an organic vegetable farm. As Wormfarm\u2019s Executive Director, Donna has developed and implemented numerous ambitious public art projects at the intersection of culture and agriculture including Reedikulus Puppet Festival, The Re-enchantment of Agriculture, The Roadside Culture Stand project and the Farm\/Art DTour. Under her leadership, in 2010 Wormfarm received the WI Governor\u2019s Award in Support of the Arts and was voted non-profit business of the year. In 2011 Wormfarm received both NEA Our Town and ArtPlace grants in their initial year of funding. Former NEA Chair Rocco Landsman called Wormfarm the poster child for creative placemaking. In 2013 Donna and Jay received the Distinguished Service to Rural Life Award from the Rural Sociological Society.  Donna has served on grant review panels for National Endowment for the Arts, ArtPlace America and Forecast Public Art. She is a member of Wisconsin Farmers Union and on the advisory board of Art of the Rural.","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/author\/donna-neuwirth\/","slug":"donna-neuwirth","avatar_urls":{"24":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/832e99f4abc8b4c8576a2dec464be131e5d9ff9a196e7eba11475138c11e0cb6?s=24&d=mm&r=g","48":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/832e99f4abc8b4c8576a2dec464be131e5d9ff9a196e7eba11475138c11e0cb6?s=48&d=mm&r=g","96":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/832e99f4abc8b4c8576a2dec464be131e5d9ff9a196e7eba11475138c11e0cb6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","128":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/832e99f4abc8b4c8576a2dec464be131e5d9ff9a196e7eba11475138c11e0cb6?s=128&d=mm&r=g"},"meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/fieldnotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users"}]}}