The Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover brings together artists and activists for “Shared Table: Art, Food, and Equity,” a discussion centered around food insecurity.
The panel discussion will be moderated by McKay Jenkins, Cornelius Tilghman Professor of English, Environmental Humanities, and Journalism at the University of Delaware. The conversation will be followed by a Q and A.
“He has had a lot of success over the years working on community gardens and projects in the Baltimore area,” says Kate Huffman, Director of Learning and Engagement at the Biggs Museum. “We got in conversation about how we could potentially address this in Dover, Kent County, and what are some things that we can do to promote awareness of food inequity.”
Joining Jenkins for the discussion will be author and poet Lia Purpura, artist and educator Melvina Brown, and Ulysses Archie, a writer and master gardener.
Huffman says that the purpose of the event is twofold.
“It's awareness that, first of all, the issue exists, because I think there are people who don't know that it exists here,” she says. “But then also, here's some steps you can take that are really tangible to have successful outcomes.”
The event also aims to demonstrate that museums like the Biggs can be more than just static spaces to look at art - they can also spark conversations and change.
“It has the capacity to be community engaged,” Huffman says. “So we are taking every advantage that we can to do that and bring up these conversations that aren't normally had in an art space.”
She adds that there is a lot of overlap between food and visual art, and that the Biggs Museum has numerous portrayals of food in its collection.
“Just this documentation of food and how it tells us about history, it tells us about culture, it tells us about accessibility,” she explains. “And of course, the making of food is also the making of an art.”
Both food and visual art can also evoke nostalgia, she adds.
“Both things can bring you back, but also can bring you forward and kind of project creative ideas into the world,” she notes.
“Shared Table: Art, Food, and Equity” is Thursday, March 26 at 5:30. Admission is free.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
