The Whole Field • Volume 5 • No. 6 • Full Moon • April 1, 2026
Baby of Mine • Colored Pencil • Sonya Montenegro (a collaboration with singer/songwriter Joan Shelley, from their lullaby songbook project titled "I Look After You".)
The Three Gratitudes • Screenprint - pigment ink, wall art prints, natural paper, 80 lb paper, cream paper • Nina Montenegro
Compassion • Gouache illustration • Sonya Montenegro
An excerpt from
Decorate. even the pits, troughs, and ditches
...The blank page is a trench. Confronting, terrifying, if properly comprehended. The truth waiting to fill that space has no value to ‘the system’, the rules of the wider world as they are currently written, and that is frightening. As state control increases, the artist becomes more and more dangerous. It’s exhilarating and awful and completely disorientating to be deemed dangerous while enacting something that brings most artists a sense of place, safety and connection to a world beyond themselves. Burrowing, furrowing, enclosing all emerge as options. Or perhaps the opposite: Exploding, expanding into shapes and situations previously not envisaged, giving away all the treasures and promising them to people who don’t see them like you do, just so they live somewhere in the daylight. I understand all of these responses. They are all rooted in a biological need for safety, which is the most understandable thing in the world.
Perhaps this is one of the many ‘lessons’ I’ve learned by living in a chronically ill body, which undulates between feeling like home and hell in response to no one thing I’ve done: All states are places to create. To decorate. To be, to be alive in, to be alive to. Magic is made in the trenches. Not because of the trenches - please be absolutely clear that I am not romanticising struggle, pain or poverty - but because the trenches are still ground. It is one set of conditions for exploring beauty on altered terms. Beauty is not always beautiful. It might also be. Not knowing is so important. In a world of colonised knowledge and certainty as progress and profit, thank goodness we don’t know what beauty will emerge. Thank goodness we can be sure it will, if we are alive enough to notice.
The Warp — Ideas and Inspiration
|| 1 || Lydia's dispatch Decorate carries encouragement for those who create, whatever the conditions. It also offers solidarity for those with chronic illnesses and disabilities. It's a tender and evocative piece with the potential to touch the right nerves for those who identify as artists and/or disabled, as well as for those who don't. The excerpt we included here speaks mainly to the artists' experience. Please read the whole piece for the broader landscape she writes on, powerfully and with care.
|| 2 || I revisited a snowy and grounding landscape in a video this morning. It's one I put together a couple of years ago over on land dear to this organization, and I'm proud of it. It asks questions about the future of Crosshatch, shares what-were-then current Crosshatch happenings, and, ultimately, is a testament to something Lydia writes about: amidst our inability to wholly forecast the future, we can trust that beautiful things emerge. And we can be part of that creative process.
To that point, there are things happening a couple of years removed from the filming, big things, that we hadn't foreseen at that time. One of those is Crosshatch Meeting Place + Mercantile in downtown Bellaire. We're happy to share that we've hired a general manager, Beth Ann Manning, and are excited about what's taking shape as the space continues to unfold. Expect more updates from 221 N. Bridge St. as we work towards an earnest opening this summer.
The Weft — News and Events
We’re heartened by a wide-range of expressions of resilient communities and gatherings. Here’s a smattering of regional events and happenings that reflect that diversity, collected for your consideration. Choose your own adventure!
|| 1 || The Long Memory Project: Farmland. The Alluvion, TC. Opening reception, Friday, April 24th, 5pm-8pm. Find more details and register here. Work will be on display until June 6th. "The Long Memory Project’s (LMP) mission is to cultivate the passing down of our community’s stories. Not just the ones considered worthy enough to make headlines and history books, but the small acts of courage, action, good governance and community building—the songs, poems and stories that help us understand where we came from, who we are, and what we envision for our future—both regionally and beyond."
|| 2 || Volunteering Opportunity at Antrim Creek Natural Area. Friday, April 3rd at 10am. Hemlock trimming in service of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid efforts. Click here for more information and to RSVP for the work party.
|| 3 || The Ship Yard: Grass Napkins and Vertical Limit. Tuesday, April 7th, 5:30-8:30pm at The Alluvion. Ship Yard is a community artist program supporting emerging local musicians. Be among the first to experience our region’s rising talent and support their journey as they set sail as artists! Find more on the evening and featured artists here.
|| 4 || Real Organic Project Certification application open now! Real Organic offers a certification program signifying commitments to high standards in farming organically. The application takes 20-30 minutes to complete. You will receive an initial farm inspection (1-2 hours), reapply for certification each year (10 minutes), and be reinspected every 5 years. Click here to find more information and apply today.
|| 5 || Mushroom Log Inoculation Workshop. Presented by Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology and hosted by Wagbo Farm and Education Center. East Jordan, Saturday, April 18th, 10am-1pm. "Join Robert Kraemer for a hands-on mushroom log workshop. This workshop will answer all your questions regarding the mushroom log process, from when to cut your trees, what species of trees can be used, what tools you need for the job, and finally, how it's done! You will get a chance to do each step of the inoculation process with your own hands. All tools will be provided, and all questions are welcome. Participants will take home confidence to inoculate mushroom logs as a by-product of managing their forests, and will have the opportunity to take home a shiitake log." Find more info and sign up here.
|| 6 || Mark your Calendars and Apply to Speak! The 2026 Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference is coming to downtown Bellaire, Oct. 4th-6th. Theme: "Culture Keepers". Find more details on the theme, and the call for speakers here.
|| 7 || The 2026 NMSFC Farm Job Board—Check out this year's opportunities here. Submitting positions is strongly encouraged. Please share in your networks, and keep an eye out for more openings that might be a good fit for you or someone you know.
|| 8 || Traditional Cooking Series - A Seven-Week Anishinaabe Foodways Journey with Cam Stott. Blandford Nature Center, Grand Rapids. Sundays, March 22nd-May 17th, 11am-2pm. "Guided by traditional teachings from elders and knowledge keepers, this seven-week series reconnects participants with traditional Anishinaabe foods, preparation methods, and the cultural knowledge carried through our foodways. Sessions blend cooking demonstrations with Cam Stott, storytelling, and community dialogue, with guest traditional teachers." Find more details, including the schedule, and register here.
Note: If this is too far away, consider similar workshops at Mshko'Ode Farm in Brutus.
|| 9 || NWMI Art & Culture Summit - Against the Current. May 14th-15th. "Through inspiring keynote sessions, practical workshops for arts workers, live performances, hands-on experiences, and structured opportunities to build real relationships, you will find meaningful exchange across disciplines and counties." Find more details and register for the Traverse City gathering here.
|| 10 || Michigan Good Food Fund and MSU Center for Regional Food Systems' Emerging Farmer Learning Series. "Not only must farmers juggle soil health, growing seasons, and pests, but they must also manage many facets of running a business. This free, 7-week webinar series explores key business skills for Michigan growers... These virtual sessions will be held on Wednesdays from 12-1:30pm, March 4-April 15, 2026." Find more details on the session topics hereand/or register here. Bonus: Crosshatch will host group viewings for this series at our Commongrounds office space (414 E 8th Street, 2nd floor, "The Grove" in Traverse City). Come for free coffee, no tech setup to worry about, and in-person connection with other farmers and farm supporters in the room.
|| 11 || Indigenous Food Sovereignty Summit. April 6-8th, at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center in East Lansing. Find details on the gathering, co-hosted by Michigan State University & University of Michigan, celebrating "Indigenous food systems, cultural resilience, and community-driven solutions for food sovereignty" here.
|| 12 || Happenings at The Alluvion Between Now and the Next Whole Field include: The Jeff Haas Trio featuring Laurie Sears + Lisa Flahive, The Jankowski Jam, The Young Lions play the music of Jeff Haas, Big Fun, Ship Yard Series - Grass Napkins and Vertical Limit, Interlochen In Town: Muse, Sheela Bringi and Elden Kelly with special guest Nabin Shrestha, Funky Uncle, Boys Behind Glass: A GenX Poetry Play & Launch Party to benefit the Women’s Resource Center, and Here:Say Presents: What in the World.
Find more information at thealluvion.org.
sponsored by:
Desmond Liggett Wealth Advisors is a mission-driven, fee-only wealth management company with a simple purpose: to generate exceptional value for the individuals, families, small business owners, and non-profit organizations they serve. Desmond Liggett Wealth Advisors believe in and adhere to triple-bottom-line analysis for portfolio investments, ensuring that they review how a company’s environmental and social values impact its long-term resilience and, consequently, value.
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