Road Side Culture Stand

June 7, 2010

Where Artists and Agriculture Intersect

Ma Baensch location selected for Roadside Culture Stand

Artists and agriculture will converge this summer in an eyecatching
Roadside Culture Stand on the corner of Humboldt and Locust, right in front of Baensch Food
Products. Roadside Culture Stands, an initiative spearheaded by the Wormfarm Institute, are artistdesigned and built mobile farm stands that display and sell fresh local produce as well as the work of local artists. The stand located in Riverwest will debut at the Locust Street Festival on June 13 and will be open for business two days a week from June through October.

Tory Tepp, an installation artist who specializes in earthworks, designed and built the Roadside Culture Stand in Riverwest. The stand will feature jars of Ma Baensch herring, Fresh Is Best Natural Pet Food and produce from Rooftop Grow-Op, among other featured local items.

“The Roadside Culture Stand is a great way for the Riverwest community and passersby to experience
local products as well as the work of local artists,” said Kim Wall, president of Baensch Food Products.
“There are many talented people in this community who have a unique product or artistic concept and this is a wonderful way to share it with the community. I’m thrilled to be a part of this worthwhile endeavor.”

The Roadside Culture Stand is funded by a generous grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board in support of
the Wormfarm Institute – a non-profit organization working to build a sustainable future for agriculture and the arts by fostering vital links between people and the land. There are four stands in Wisconsin: two located in Milwaukee, one in Mineral Point and one in Baraboo. Each stand will have a home base and will also travel to local festivals and county fairs.

“We chose this location, in front of Ma Baensch, because of its visibility. It’s at the crossroads to
everything – the east side, downtown and the north shore,” said Stacy LaPoint, site coordinator for the
Roadside Culture Stand. “This stand brings awareness as well as an entrepreneurial outlet to local artisan goods and a burgeoning local food system.”