Art Museum receives America 250-Ohio Grant Funds for Culture Crops Photography Project
Art Museum receives America 250-Ohio Grant Funds for Culture Crops Photography Project
The Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum (RCCAM) at ºÚÁÏÉçÇø, is pleased to announce its successful in obtaining a $12,500 ‘Buckeye’ grant from the , The funding contributes to a creative and educational endeavor that brings people, art, food, and history together: the Culture Crops Photography Project.
Buckeye Impact Grants offer up to $50,000 for projects with a statewide, regional, or significant local impact. These projects may include significant exhibitions, regional commemorative activities, substantial digital and documentary media projects and signature public events.
Culture Crops engages fine arts photographer Tina Gutierrez to conduct site visits to create a series of photographic portraits that serve as a celebration of Ohio’s history and diversity of food growing communities. Culture Crops includes stories of Indigenous, immigrant, and local community and family farmers, and the history of the food they produce. The project raises awareness of the depth and breadth of Ohio residents and the Land they cultivate across Southwest Ohio and beyond. The resulting series of photographic portraits and selected video interviews tell the stories of these present day Ohioans, their experiences of food growing, and the history of food growing and farming traditions. Artist Tina Gutierrez, videographer Asa Featherstone, and local food history expert Dr. R. Alan Wight will work with RCCAM staff to develop content for exhibition, videos, and related programming to take place between Fall 2025 and Spring 2026. ºÚÁÏÉçÇø partners include Gretchen Meier, Curator of the Turrell Herbarium in the Department of Biology, and Amanda Bentley Brymer and Sarah Dumyahn of the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability in association with ºÚÁÏÉçÇø’s Farm.
is a partner with the Ohio Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial, and is providing grants to non-profit, educational, and local governmental organizations to support educational and commemorative programming about the 250th anniversary of the independence and founding of the United States. America 250-Ohio grants draw attention to the achievements, struggles, honors, innovations, and significance of all people in Ohio since before its founding to the present day.
The Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum (RCCAM) was one of the 61 recipients chosen from the more than 170 statewide applications during the grant program’s spring 2024 funding cycle. In total, America 250-Ohio, awarded approximately $600,000 in grants to communities and organizations across Ohio as part of the commission’s second funding cycle. Combined with the approximately $400,000 in grants awarded in January 2024, the America 250-Ohio Commission grants program has worked with Ohio Humanities to distribute $1 million in grants to 84 organizations across the state. The grant program was designed to showcase the achievements, struggles, honors, innovations and significance of all people in Ohio since before its founding to the present day. Themes identified for Ohio’s commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary programming include:
- Celebrations and Signature Events: Impacting tourism and economic development
- Ohio Originals: Highlighting points of pride and unity
- Engaging Youth and Lifelong Learners: Education and scholarship
- Inclusive Statewide Engagement: Museums, arts and culture
- Telling Ohio Stories: Highlighting stories of Ohioans past and present
RCCAM serves as a teaching museum that engages in dialogue with and about visual culture; maintains and grows a strong permanent collection; recognizes and celebrates global artistic and cultural diversity through display, study, publication, and educational programs. Open when ºÚÁÏÉçÇø is in session for the Fall and Spring semesters, RCCAM offers free admission and a variety of volunteer and membership opportunities. RCCAM is part of the College of Creative Arts at ºÚÁÏÉçÇø, and is accredited by the . For more information about RCCAM and this project, including interest in supporting the museum and its related programs, please email artmuseum@MiamiOH.edu or visit the Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum webpage.
