Art, Agriculture, and Our Changing Relationship to the Land

In what ways have we lost our connection to the earth, and how do we rebuild it? What does it mean to "work the land"? Artist Melody Epperson has sought out these answers over the past two years, exploring the farmlands of eastern Adams County and the people who tend to them.

Join us for an evening of celebration and conversation at Dust to Apples: The Colors of the Eastern Plains. This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments provided.

• View Melody Epperson's exhibition Dust to Apples: The Colors of the Eastern Plains, a collection of captivating encaustic and ink paintings.
• Get up close with the breathtaking photography of Jimena Peck.
• Stay for a moderated panel featuring Melody Epperson and local farmers as they discuss their stories, their challenges, and their everchanging relationship to the environment.

• 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. | Exhibition on view and Reception
• 5:30 p.m. | Remarks & Panel Discussion

In a world increasingly disconnected from the land, Dust to Apples: The Colors of the Eastern Plains seeks to heal our relationship with the natural world. In collaboration with Adams County Parks, Open Space & Cultural Arts, artist Melody Epperson explores her family’s challenging history as farmers during the Dust Bowl, what it means to “work the land,” and guides us on a journey of reconnection with the earth.

Over two years, Epperson immersed herself in the farms of eastern Adams County and the Historic Splendid Valley to talk with farmers, learn their stories, and collect natural materials from their lands to create pigments and inks. Items collected spent months curing, resulting in an array of colors mirroring the land. Epperson used berries, plums, and sand cherries to make her inks, while using ground-up flowers, plants, dirt, and charcoal to create the pigments used in the paintings you see on these walls.

Melody's work is complemented by the documentary photography of Jimena Peck who has traveled around Adams County with Melody, capturing stunning images of the land and those living on and tending to it.

This project was made possible by SCFD.

Berry Patch Farms
CSU Extension
Curious Farms Market
Flying B Bar Ranch, Brighton
Historic Splendid Valley
LazyB Acres Alpacas, Bennett
Red Daisy Farm, Brighton
Sakata Farms, Brighton
Town of Bennett
Town of Strasburg

Melody Epperson is a passionate storyteller and land artist dedicated to exploring the complex relationships between people and the natural world. Drawing on personal history and collective memory, Melody creates immersive art that reflects both the beauty and fragility of our connection to the land.

www.melodyepperson.com

Jimena Peck is an independent documentary and editorial photographer originally from Argentina, currently based in Denver. Her documentary work focuses on the lives of rural communities in Latin America and the Western United States. Her work explores the complexities of the human experience and sheds light on the beauty that exists in even the most ordinary moments.
www.jimenapeck.com

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Host or Publisher Adams County Parks, Open Space & Cultural Arts