KCACTF Region 1 Conference 57

Tannis Kowalchuk is the founding artistic director of Farm Arts Collective and the co-owner of Willow Wisp Organic Farm in Damascus, PA. She is a theatre artist, flower farmer, and community organizer. She has directed and performed in over 30 original theatre productions in the US and Canada.

Her current projects with Farm Arts Collective include Dream on the Farm, an annual site-specific performance about climate change created collaboratively with The Farm Arts Collective ensemble of over 20+ performers, farmers, musicians, scientists, and community members; Alice in Scienceland a touring STEAM performance for children focusing on earth science and climate change; and Decompositions a deeply personal solo performance performed with a pile of compost.

Tannis directs programs at Farm Arts Collective's Agri-Cultural Center on Willow Wisp Organic Farm, a newly built educational and performance venue dedicated to programs in farming, art, food, and ecology. Tannis and her husband Greg were 2023 recipients of Farmer of the Year by Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, and Farm Arts Collective were 2024 recipients of the Radio Catskill Community Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability.

Tannis was co-founder of NACL Theatre in New York (Struck, Weather Project, Confessions of Punch and Judy, Courage), and was a member of Primus Theatre (Alkoremmi, The Night Room, Far Away Home) in Winnipeg, Canada. She studied theatre at University of Winnipeg (BA).

About Farm Arts Collective
Farm Arts Collective intersects life-sustaining practices of Farming, Performance, Food, and Ecology to engage and enhance rural community life. Farm Arts Collective was founded on Willow Wisp Organic Farm in Damascus, Pennsylvania in 2018 by farmer and theatre artist, Tannis Kowalchuk. In 2024, the company moved into a permanent home, an agri-cultural center in a modern new barn. Programs include educational farm workshops and tours, performances by Farm Arts Collective, community meals, environmental education, agri-culture and social justice events (Juneteenth and inter-cultural exchanges with first nation Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania). Company artistic work includes a 10-year cycle of climate change plays called Dream on the Farm, touring a young audiences play entitled Alice in Scienceland, Decompositions, and a new work Lucy-Joseph is in development. The collective is led by Kowalchuk and company manager Jess Beveridge, and is comprised of 20+ LOCAL artists, farmers, musicians, scientists, makers, and activists.