In 2012,
National Endowment for the Arts chairman Rocco Landesman visited YoloArts to learn more about their Art & Ag Project which has local Yolo County Artists interacting with local farmers at their farms to create artwork. The artists get regular, and safe, access to the landscapes they wish to paint or photograph. Farmers, in turn, benefit as well, with often publicly displayed art showcasing their land. “This program has reminded people that the countryside is beautiful and the farmland is beautiful and if we don’t pay attention, it could be gone,” said Esparto resident Claire Haag, whose marriage is an art and ag project in itself — she’s a painter and her husband, James, is a
walnut grower. Locally, the Art and Ag Project is celebrated every fall with an Art Farm Exhibition Gala that features an Art Harvest and Taste of Yolo. There farmers can often be found bidding on the artwork depicting their own land and homes. ==Notes==