Andrea Frank will be working on a subtly political artist’s book, which honors the ancient but marginalized knowledge of the importance of heirloom seeds, and celebrates the messily complex cycle from seed to plant to seed to soil. For the past two years, Frank has photographed at the organic Hudson Valley Seed Company farm in Kerhonkson, NY, and has accumulated a massive visual archive of heirloom plants in all growth phases. In order to ground this visual exploration, she will be conducting interviews with farm owner Ken Greene and others connected to the politics and philosophy of seed cultivation.

Andrea Frank’s artistic work addresses complexity and change in relation to collective responsibility and sustainability. Born in Germany, she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, received her MFA from Parsons, and attended the Whitney ISP in NYC. She is an Associate Professor in Photography at SUNY New Paltz.

Funds for this residency came from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; the Max and Marian Farash Foundation; and Joy of Giving Something.