A new photography and video exhibition titled "Culture Crops" has opened at the Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum at Miami University in Ohio. The exhibit features over 30 photographs by Cincinnati-based fine arts photographer Tina Gutierrez, who spent nearly two years traveling across Ohio to document the state's diverse agricultural community. The project includes images of Syrian refugees, Mexican immigrants, members of the Myaamia tribe, and legacy farming families, alongside video interviews filmed by artist Asa Featherstone, IV. The exhibition was funded by a $12,500 America 250-Ohio grant as part of the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations.
The exhibition matters because it highlights the often-overlooked diversity of Ohio's farming sector and uses food as a universal connector to bridge cultural and racial divides. By pairing Gutierrez's social justice-oriented photography with oral histories, the show transforms agricultural documentation into a platform for cross-cultural understanding. The project also demonstrates how public funding can support community-based art that explores themes of immigration, heritage, and shared humanity, making it relevant to broader conversations about rural-urban connections and the role of art in social cohesion.