Meet Cat: Arcadia's Illustrator!

Cat Robinson is our new part-time Artist in Residence!  She won us over with her amazing farm signs last fall, and her talents working with kids.  Cat will be in charge of painting our Mobile Market, farm beautification projects, arts & crafts with kids, etc.  She'll also help with our spring field trips once they get started in April.  We're so glad to have her on board!  Let's get to know Cat better -

Cat, as a giant peapod, doing art projects at a recent Farm to Table family event

What are you most excited about for this position?
I could go on for days about why this position is so exciting for me, but don’t worry, I won’t. I am most eager not only to be a part of this lovely and passionate group of Arcadia staff, but more broadly, the movement that is changing the way we think about food. I can’t wait to challenge, engage, and excite future generations about making healthy and informed decisions about what they eat. I am also quite excited to reach kids in a way that engaged me during my childhood - through art.

What is the coolest project you'll be working on?
Most definitely Arcadia’s Mobile Market, a full sized school bus that will hit DC’s streets this spring. I will be hand painting various vegetables and Arcadia-tastic text on the bus!

What experiences have prepared you for this position? While nannying for three, young children in the DC area I learned that if you can draw vegetables playing music, kids think you are infinitely cooler. At the time, I did not realize this skill would come in handy down the road!  On a more adult note, a recent Master’s degree from GW in Art Therapy has prepared me for this position as well. The program played a major role in my artistic development and the grew my ability to engage kids in unique and engaging day-to-day experiences.  On a more historic note, I was my grandfather’s sidekick growing up, and he was an avid gardener. And though I have been a city dweller all of my life, my love and appreciation of growing food is strong. An appreciation of nature and vegetables is quite necessary to spend to amount of time that I do drawing them!

One of Cat's awesome signs at Arcadia Farm

If you were a vegetable, what would you be?
An eggplant. I love it’s rich and unique hue and it’s the main ingredient in one of my family’s favorite dishes, Eggplant Parmesan.

Which season has the best produce (and why?!) 
Hands down: fall. There are pumpkins to carve, apples to butter, and squash to soup. Now top all of that off with a over-worn, comfy sweater and life is good.