On the occasion of the exhibition Lucas Foglia: A Natural Order, MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient, community activist, and internationally renowned authority on urban agriculture Will Allen will speak about his revolutionary work with Growing Power Inc. and his thoughts about a Good Food Revolution.

Will Allen, son of a sharecropper, former professional basketball player, ex-corporate sales leader, and longtime farmer, has become recognized as among the preeminent thinkers of our time on agriculture and food policy. The founder and CEO of Growing Power Inc., a farm and  community food center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Allen is widely considered the leading authority in the expanding field of urban agriculture. At Growing Power and in community food projects across the nation and around the world, Allen promotes the belief that all people, regardless of their economic circumstances, should have access to fresh, safe, affordable and nutritious foods at all times. Using methods he has developed over a lifetime, Allen trains community members to become community farmers, assuring them a secure source of good food without regard to political or economic forces. In 2008 Mr. Allen received the prestigous MacArthur "Genius grant" for his efforts to promote urban sustainable food systems. Later, in 2010 Mr. Allen joined First Lady Michelle Obama as she launched the White House’s “Let’s Move” campaign to address issues affecting American youth and the risk of obesity and later that year was also recognized as one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. Since then, Mr. Allen has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the James Beard Award in 2011 and the NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award in 2012.

Growing Power was started in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1993 by Will Allen. It is a national nonprofit organization and land trust supporting people from diverse backgrounds, and the environments in which they live, by helping to provide equal access to healthy, high-quality, safe and affordable food for people in all communities. Growing Power implements this mission by providing hands-on training, on-the-ground demonstration, outreach and technical assistance through the development of Community Food Systems that help people grow, process, market and distribute food in a sustainable manner.

This event is made possible by funding from the David Winton Bell Gallery, the Arts Initiative courtesy of the Creative Arts Council, the Visual Art Department, the Center for Environmental Studies, the Department of History, the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage and course development funding courtesy of Prof. Kathryn DeMaster.