A COMMUNITY GARDEN GETS A COLLABORATIVE MURAL

Ruth Bennett Community Farm is an educational community-run farm and environmental center located in the Bennett Homes in Chester, PA. The mission of the farm is to provide fresh, affordable produce for residents of public housing and the greater Chester community. 

The Ruth Bennett Community Farm is committed to providing Chester with increased access to organic produce. To fulfill their mission, they grow their own vegetables and buy produce. They take both locally grown produce and products they bought and hold weekly farmer's markets for Chester residents. The farm is always looking for friendly volunteers. Volunteers work about three to four hours a day on various projects. Projects include weeding, clearing debris, building beds, etc. Anyone can volunteer as long as they are at least 13 years old. 

The farm also benefits the community by getting the youth involved with what they call a Youth Summer Internship. Each summer, six youths ages 14-18 work at RBCF. They pay the small crew of teenagers to work on the farm during the summer. The youth participate in workshops, assist in food distribution, and learn skills that they can apply in their future job searches. The farm also grows flowers and sells bouquets at the market as a revenue source. The perennials they plant attract pollinators and contribute to building a healthy local ecosystem. The people who run the farm are Natania Schaumburg (Farm Manager), Malik Savage (Grounds Manager & Farm Assistant), and Bella Korfmann (Youth Coordinator & Farm Assistant). The farm is partnered with local community sponsors.  

In September 2022 students from Widener University along with other members of the community traveled to the farm to paint a mural. The goal of the mural is to reach people within the Chester community. Art studio professor Mat Tomezsko of Widener University envisioned this as a tribute to the flowers and fresh produce grown by the Ruth Bennett Community Farm. Professor Tomezsko is an artist from Philadelphia whose mural paintings and public art installations have been exhibited across the country. The mural design features hundreds of sections of repeated imagery of flowers and produce grown on the farm. Community members traced stencils and worked from templates. Each participant was encouraged to create their own interpretation of the imagery and leave their mark on the mural, resulting in a vibrant array of visions and voices expressed throughout the composition. Professors Mathew Tomezsko and Jayne Thompson secured funding from TD Charitable Foundation so that Chester community members were paid a stipend to paint. The two worked with Chester Housing Authority to determine the best location for the mural. They hope to repeat the collaboration in another location in Chester. 

To get better insight on this project, we scheduled an interview with the art director of the project, Mathew F. Tomezsko. During this interview we asked him what inspired him to implement his work into the community, how he came to work with the Ruth Bennett Farm, and the takeaways he got from this project. He said: 

“I have always been interested in finding ways to directly involve the community in the creative process and implementation of an artwork. I do not center myself in my practice; rather, I believe art is at its best when it is a platform for expression that others can access. My goal is to cultivate community in order to make something that reflects the world and that many people can relate to and see themselves in. I chose to work with the farm after trying out these methods in Philadelphia. I wanted to engage with the community in Chester since I teach at Widener. The farm is a beautiful place and a central hub in the neighborhood, so I thought it was the perfect place to make a mural celebrating the community. The composition contains the distinct creative efforts of over 50 people. Upon close examination, you can see the individuality of each participant working out their thoughts in paint right next to another participant doing the same thing, and yet it looks completely different. Those differences are interesting and beautiful. Overall, the differences enhance one another. The design is cohesive and balanced. The texture and colors are lively and vibrant. I think it works as a reflection of the urban farm growing flowers and produce, but also of the people living and working on the farm and in the community. Although I had the idea for it, it was made entirely by them.”