EBS STAFF
The wheat field behind Wild Crumb Bakery in north Bozeman will be harvested on Sunday, Sept. 8 in a public celebration. In October 2023, artist Agnes Denes installed “Wheatfield—An Inspiration. The seed is in the ground” at Tinworks Art. The interactive ecological work invited community members to plant native wheat in the field, throughout Bozeman and in their own backyard.
An Aug. 26 press release from Tinworks Art stated that the Sept. 8 celebration will bring students from Montana State University plant sciences to instruct participants on how to hand-harvest wheat, thresh, clean and mill wheat in small portions. The first 300 guests in attendance will be given a small packet of the harvested wheat that they can use as either a souvenir or as seed for their own crop.
According to the release, Tinworks’ wheat will be processed into flour and baked into Wild Crumb bread later in the fall. In partnership with the Gallatin Valley Food Bank, the bread will be sold to the public and distributed throughout the community.
Denes is well-known for her ecological artwork. In 1982, she grew a two-acre wheat field in Lower Manhattan, New York.
“Reimagining Wheatfield in Bozeman was particularly compelling for Denes because of
the significant role wheat has played in Montana’s economy, the increasing loss of farmland in the rapid urban growth of the region, and the opportunity to reclaim another valuable piece of land through an artistic ecological intervention,” the release stated.
The harvest celebration will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sept. 8.
