Sowing Scenes and Reaping Applause: Tannis Kowalchuk’s Agri-Cultural Revolution

Most people spend a lifetime trying to balance their passions.

Tannis Kowalchuk planted hers in the same field.

In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau sits down with the artistic director of Farm Arts Collective and co-owner of Willow Wisp Organic Farm along Pennsylvania's Delaware River.

A performer at heart, Tannis always knew she belonged on a stage. Then she met a farmer. What followed was a remarkable journey that combined two seemingly different worlds into one life's mission.

Today, Tannis is an actor, director, producer, farmer, educator, and climate advocate whose work has transformed a working organic and solar farm into a destination for original theater and community dialogue.

Her productions are performed right on the farm, where audiences gather among fields, barns, and open skies to experience stories rooted in the realities of rural life. This summer, she directs Johnny Appleseed: An Historical Fantasia, the Farm Arts Collective's newest original production.

During the conversation, Tannis shares how farming changed the way she sees the world, why climate change has become one of the most urgent topics facing agriculture, and how theater can help people understand challenges that affect all of us.

As she explains:

"Climate change and new weather events are the talk of the farming community. First, these devastating events affect farmers, then they affect the eaters. And the eaters are all of us."

Tannis also offers thoughtful advice for aspiring artists, emphasizing the importance of mastering your craft, building relationships with mentors and collaborators, and staying committed to the work.

Insightful, inspiring, and deeply original, this episode explores what happens when creativity, purpose, and community all take root in the same place.

@Farm Arts Collective
@Willow Wisp Organic Farm
@Lisa Champeau