Urban Farming / Common Ground

Can urban farming elicit decolonization, self-determination and healing through access to food? How do factors such as environmental racism, food deserts, and the history of land ownership impact these goals? What kinds of spaces can be developed in tandem with urban farms to fully achieve food sovereignty for Black and Brown communities?

Urban Farming / Common Ground will explore these questions with brief presentations and dialogue between Duron Chavis, urban farmer, educator and changemaker, Quilian Riano, founder and lead designer of DSGN AGNC, and Ashley Gripper, founder of Land Based Jawns. Nicole Pollard, Program Coordinator at Philadelphia Contemporary will moderate the discussion. This program was inspired by the “Resiliency Garden,” an outdoor installation at the Institute of Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, that was commissioned as a part of Commonwealth and co-designed by Chavis and Riano.