DAMASCUS, PA — Farm Arts Collective announces their upcoming gala fundraiser Cultivating Agri-Culture: A Chef-to-Farm to Experience, set to take place on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at Farm Arts Collective on Willow Wisp Organic Farm located at 38 Hickory Lane, Damasucus, PA 18415. Cultivating Agri-Culture: A Chef-to-Farm Experience is a multi-course gala dinner created and prepared by visiting chef Mark Ordaz of Family Meal at Blue Hill NYC (Michelin Star and Green Star). The gala benefits Farm Arts Collective.

Cocktails start on the patio at 6:00 PM, followed by a wildly innovative and delicious multi-course family-style meal featuring fresh vegetables and herbs from Willow Wisp Organic Farm. Attire is business casual. Individual tickets are $175; a table for 8 is $2,000. The event sponsor is JMDB (Jeffrey McMahon Design and Build). The sit-down meal celebrates delicious food, creativity, art, and all the intersecting practices that make Farm Arts Collective a place worth supporting.

The work of Farm Arts Collective centers on the intersection of farming, art, food, and ecology and includes the annual Dream on the Farm summer eco-performance event on the farmland, year-round agricultural workshops, as well as the creation and production of professional performances like Jazz on the Farm and Scattered Seeds of Troy. Programs at Farm Arts Collective require funding to thrive, and proceeds from Cultivating Agri-Culture: A Chef to Farm Experience will support the agri-cultural center’s robust programming in 2026-2027.

Both Greg Swartz of Willow Wisp Organic Farm and Tannis Kowalchuk of Farm Arts Collective are thrilled to welcome Chef Ordaz to the farm to highlight the seasonal beauty of the surroundings as well as the bounty of the farm. Kowalchuk says “Chef Mark is an innovative and very creative culinary artist. He is also a long-time customer of Willow Wisp Organic Farm and we have seen (and tasted) what he does with our produce. We are so excited to share his genius with our community at our upcoming gala.”

Mark Ordaz is a New York–based chef whose career has taken him through some of the world’s most influential kitchens. He began working with Chef Daniel Boulud at DB Bistro Moderne, with additional time at DB Bistro Singapore, followed by Café Boulud Palm Beach. In 2012, he completed a three-month stage at noma in Copenhagen. He later helped open Atrium in DUMBO with Laurent Kalkatour before joining Momofuku Ko (2014–2017) as sous chef and Momofuku Ssam Bar (2018–2021) as chef de cuisine. Since June 2021, Mark has served as chef de cuisine at Family Meal at Blue Hill, working alongside Chef Dan Barber.

This event promises to be the first of an annual tradition for Farm Arts Collective. Attendees can purchase tickets via the Farm Arts Collective website www.farmartscollective.org or by using a direct ticket link here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/cultivating-agri-culture-a-chef-to-farm-experience

Interested attendees may also send a check with the names of your guests to Farm Arts Collective, 38 Hickory Lane, Damascus, PA 18415.