Delaware Century Farm portrait exhibition opens Nov. 5

The Delaware Historical Society will host the Delaware Century Farm Portraits Exhibition, which consists of 10 paintings by local artist Mark S. Reeve. It celebrates Delaware’s oldest farms and will be installed in the newly restored Old Town Hall on North Market Street in Wilmington.

The exhibition will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays from Nov. 5 to Dec.18, excluding Thursday and Friday, Nov. 26-27, when the Delaware Historical Society will be closed for Thanksgiving.

Guided tours of the Delaware Century Farm Portraits exhibition and other selected spaces of Old Town Hall and the Delaware History Museum will be given every hour on the hour from 11 a.m. till 1 p.m. Entrance to the exhibit and the guided tour is by suggested donation.

The restoration of Old Town Hall is just part of the dramatic transformation taking place on the Delaware Historical Society’s Wilmington campus, which will culminate in the reopening of the Delaware History Museum in early 2016.

The Delaware Century Farm Project features portraits of the First State’s oldest farm properties and seeks to preserve and promote Delaware’s rich agricultural heritage. The Century Farm Portraits series was developed by Milford artist Mark Reeve, who worked with the Department of Agriculture to identify Century Farms in each of Delaware’s three counties. Century Farms are agricultural properties that have been owned by the same family and farmed continuously for more than 100 years.

"The significance of these Century Farms represents the long tradition of family farming we have in Delaware. And that has not only historical impacts, but social, cultural and economic impacts as well," said Secretary of Agriculture Ed Kee during interviews for the project documentary. "That family commitment goes throughout the whole state."

There are more than 129 certified Century Farms in Delaware. Reeve researched the farms and conducted interviews, and the resulting oil paintings highlight both the farms and the families who sustain them. Also, Reeve produced a 34-minute video featuring interviews with farm owners, Kee and agriculture industry leaders about the continuation of family-owned farms and the future of Delaware agriculture.

The series highlights some of Delaware’s oldest family farms, among them the Miller Farm in Frederica, which has been farmed for more than 325 years, making it the oldest farm in Delaware; the Woodside Creamery Farm, which is owned by the Mitchell family in Hockessin; and the Cooch's Bridge Farm in Newark, which was the site of Delaware's only Revolutionary War battle.

The exhibition will also be open from 5 to 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 4, as part of the Wilmington Art Loop. Reeve’s work is currently available to view by appointment through Hardcastle Gallery, 5714 Kennett Pike in Centreville. For more information, call 302-655-5230. Reeve regularly has shows with the Mispillion Art League at 5 S. Walnut St. in Milford.

The Delaware Century Farms Portraits project is coordinated with the Delaware Department of Agriculture, and is generously funded by M&T Bank, Growmark FS, Farm Family Insurance, Delaware Farm Bureau, Iris McKenney, and Alanna Hill and Lorraine Dion.

For more information, call 302-655-7161 or go to www.dehistory.org.