The Whole Field • Volume 5 • No. 7 • New Moon • April 17, 2026
Woman Holding Balance • 72” x 50” • 2024
Rachamim (Panel #2) • 50” x 32” • 2025
Madonna and Child • 72” x 50” • 2024
Emily Mayo • Charcoal on Paper
An excerpt from
Tending Our Circles: The Long Conversation with Fire in the Village's Annie Humphrey & Shanai Matteson
Annie & Shanai
Note from Taylor: Yesterday, we put in elbow grease on continued work to shape the interior of 221 (N. Bridge St.), which is Crosshatch's equivalent of Fire in the Village's Room 203. Tomorrow, we'll hold a mushroom log inoculation workshop at Wagbo. A week from today is the opening reception for the newest iteration of the Long Memory Project, a program geared towards sharing wisdom, stories, and experience, through art and gathering. All of this is to say, we're working with our hands, sharing wisdom and stories, and engaging art and culture. We don't do this work alone. We're inspired by others following similar tracks, and Fire in the Villageand Art of the Rural (who hosted the following conversation) certainly fit that bill.
Check out the teaser and listen to the talk linked below for insights into what Annie means by coherence, the pitfalls of the nonprofit and arts worlds, the shared experiences of indigenous and rural non-native communities amid larger extractive patterns, and more.
Shanai: That has come up so much in every space that I am in now. And you were talking about, like, 50% of [our work] is food and 50% is... I was thinking about that the other day, 'cause I was making a pot of soup.
We've been doing a lot of potlucks here at Room 203 and also out in the community. So I actually spend more time now making food than I do making art, which is weird. I was thinking about how that is also an act of care and also a demonstration.
It's a way that I'm gonna demonstrate to other people in the community that we can take care of each other. And just bringing a pot of soup or bringing a hot dish or, you know, your crock pot full of whatever it is that you've made, and then offering that to everyone. It does really get people thinking differently about their own role in a kind of creative community.
And then people do start talking about what are these things that we all are struggling with? And in this region, there's a lot of people struggling around, do I have food to eat? Will I have a house to live in? What do I do when my car breaks down? And so we're, through the art, we're creating that opportunity for people to see each other and value each other.
And then I think it gets a little easier to ask for help or to offer help—when you have something to give.
Annie: I think some people are overwhelmed by their circumstance.
I don't know what we can do about that, but, even, no matter how crazy the world may get—we won't have the resources to help everybody—but, I think what we're doing in 203, and when we visit people in the schools, I think we are really encouraging coherence. And we're encouraging this thing about deprogramming because everybody is programmed.
Everyone is programmed to think they can't live without wifi. I can't do my job. I cannot live without that. And our libraries are closing down, and I think that's what we do, Shanai. I think people, when they leave our little events and our workshops or our projects or our little art sessions, they leave thinking, I do carry power. Whether it's just… whether they just express artistically, that is a power that is ignited. So I don't have big grand dreams about the result of what we're doing. I just trust that something's shifting when we come and go…
The Warp — Ideas and Inspiration
|| 1 || The Practice of Delight in Repair of the World is one of my favorite Crosshatch documents. I was sent a copy to review the evening before my final interview for a XH role. I devoured the nourishing read in a quick sitting. It's an outline of what makes Crosshatch Crosshatch—what guides our work and how we do it—, and although it's long been an internal draft, we're looking to share a public-facing version before long. Snag it if you see it, it's a good one.
|| 2 ||On a similar note, I've heard that if you're feeling down, there are two quick steps you can take that might be of help.
a.) Take stock of what you're thankful for.
b.) Serve someone else.
Maybe working on repairs for others will do the trick. There's something incredibly satisfying on multiple levels when you engage in the work of the overlapping circles mentioned in the Fire in the Village talk. Consider what you're good at, and consider what you need, and consider bringing those insights to your conversations with others. Maybe this is an informal process, or maybe you'd prefer to volunteeror seek repair in a more facilitated environment. Either way, this is one way to shift our culture of consumption and compensation, which is worthy and tangible work.
|| 3 || A note from Dougald Hine's 2013 writing, Organisations That Matter: "Like any investors, your community will not be overly impressed by how hard you have worked or how much you have sacrificed. What will catch their attention is your ability to put together a story that is large enough and real enough: to make sense of what has been achieved so far, to be honest about the mistakes that have been made, and at the same time to put these mistakes into perspective by reconnecting with why you all felt this mattered in the first place. From there, you need to be able to make a case for what can be done together going forward and why this still matters."
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 || 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.
|| 2 || 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."
|| 3 || The Ship Yard: Shortstop and Scott Foor. Tuesday, May 5th, 5:30-7:30pm 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 || Chestnut Grafting Workshop. Saturday, May 9th, 11am-1pm, Traverse City. "This hands-on workshop will teach the basics of grafting with scions gathered from the Dougherty Mission and other Large Surviving Americans (LSAs)." Free, but donations accepted. Find more information and register here.
|| 6 || Mark your Calendars and Apply to Speak! The 2026 Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference is coming to downtown Bellaire, Oct. 4th-6th. Find more details on the theme, "Culture Keepers", 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 || Volunteer Opportunity: Russ Mawby Signature Service Project at The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park. Friday, May 15th, 9am-4pm, Traverse City. Expect "projects including invasive species removal, establishment of new trails, general grounds clean up, and installation of new native plants." Find more information, including registration, for the Americorps-driven day of service here.
|| 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 || Happenings at The Alluvion Between Now and the Next Whole Field include: TC Comedy Fest: Improv Stage, Anthony Stanco "In The Groove - Live At The Alluvion" Album Release, Big Fun, May Erlewine with Packy Lundholm, The Jeff Haas Trio featuring Laurie Sears + Lisa Flahive, the Long Memory Project: Farmland Opening Reception, rivereye - Album Release by Max Lockwood, The Alluvion Big Band, Funky Uncle, and Fresh Coast Film Festival: Traverse City 2026 - Day One.
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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