Introduction
We look down from an aerial perspective upon a farm in the midst of harvesting--tomatoes, potatoes, and corn all are represented. Large formal blocks of color divide the different spaces, and farm equipment conveys a sense of energy via zig-zagging passes up and down the rows. An important facet of the scene, though, is what's easily overlooked: a farmhouse, barn, and silos are barely visible in the far distance; blending into the plants, numerous field workers are picking tomatoes. The spectacle of a harvest threatens to erase the people unless we pay careful attention.
The painter of "Fields," Juan Cavazos, was himself a migrant farmworker in Western New York at the time. He had harvested the crops shown on his canvases. Should this influence a viewer's perspective when beholding his art, since an American's understanding of agriculture is similarly aerial and abstract? For one row, Cavazos took the time to paint 75 baskets of tomatoes that might easily be perceived as a dotted line. In an artist's statement he wrote that "Farmworkers are a group apart in the society. What belongs to us is the courage to face and challenge hard labor. We make an immense contribution to the community, society, and the country."
Whatever generalizations could be made about migrant farmworkers must be balanced by specificity and self-representation. "Farmerworkers Atlas" was created inductively, from boxes of materials collected over decades by the Geneseo Migrant Center. They include photographs, works of art, poems, letters, grant applications, programs for gallery shows, legal forms, and obsolete floppy discs. Enough material is missing to preclude authoritative overviews of the organization's history, and besides the point was to begin with farmworkers. Since many (or even most) lacked official documentation, the absence of details may have been protective. The following page contains links to nine different story maps that envision different ways to constellate the material archive. Subsequent pages are shorter or alternate versions of those speculative maps.
Credits
This exhibit was created by Cecilia Dignan, Cooper Fensterstock, Shannon Keenan, Natalie Kershner, Nikolet Michalkow, Fen Nielsen, Sawyer Wilson, and Ken Cooper. Thanks to: Riley Dieter; Julia Stewart-Bittle (Genesee Valley Council on the Arts); Patty Friend (Town of Brant Historian); Leah Root.