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Crop artist thanks essential workers

Crop artist thanks essential workers

Stan Herd carved a bouquet of flowers into a field

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

An American artist used his skills and unique canvass to create a piece thanking the people on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stan Herd, a Kansas artist best known for creating earthworks (pieces on large plots of land) used half an acre of land to make a piece called “Tribute to the Front Line.”

The image in a Lawrence, Kan. corn field is of a large bouquet of flowers in a vase with the words “Thank You” inscribed across the front. The whole picture is surrounded by a border.

For Herd, the piece of art is a small way of showing appreciation for those caring for ill patients and providing essential services during the coronavirus situation.

“They just get up every day and go put (themselves) on the line. I mean it’s heroic to me,” Herd told KCTV5 on Thursday. “There’s not a lot that I can do out here. I’m an artist and I do art fields and so I decided to create something for them.”


Stan Herd Arts/Facebook photo

Herd begins each earthworks piece with a painting.

After the painting is finished, he takes the necessary measurements to transfer the painting onto the field-sized canvas. If needed, Herd will also plant a crop to ensure there’s enough material to work with.

Once everything is in place, he uses a weed whacker to create the image.

The original plan had the words “The Front Line” on the front but a friend suggested going with “Thank You.”

Farms.com has reached out to Herd for comment on his piece.


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