Hen Institute at Raleigh City Farm

By: Kelly Mason, Raleigh City Farm Marketing & Communications Volunteer & Founder of Data Light Analytics, LLC

Without ruffling any feathers (pun intended), Raleigh City Farm has introduced livestock to the site with the support of the Hen Institute. Stepping foot on the Farm, you will be quick to notice that these hens (two “Silkies” and one “Black Sex Link”) are stealing the show! A mixture of excitement and wonderment is visible across visitors’ faces, young and old, when they meet their new feathered friends, so let’s break down why these egg-citing friends are here - last pun I promise…

As described on their website, Hen Institute is “a public art project sponsored by the City of Raleigh and the Raleigh Arts Commission as part of SEEK Raleigh. It is composed of a mobile chicken coop and classroom inhabited by egg laying chickens. Hen Institute invites artists and community members to use hens as a curatorial framework to create artistic, community-based, and educational programs. Themes include but are not limited to, sustenance, protection, feminism, immobility, nesting, community, sustainability, home, rural, courage, motherhood, nutrition, and generosity.” SEEK Raleigh is a temporary public art program that engages artists to use unique and non-traditional interiors, structures, and outdoor spaces for “site-specific, performative, and participatory installations and experiences.”

So, you might be asking yourself, will eggs be on the menu for the next Farmstand? Not quite, all of the eggs laid by our broody guests are donated to our Farmshare partner, A Place At the Table, for use in their pay-what-you-can café. These hens are living their best life in their portable coop and are being taken care of by artist Ayla Gizlice. To learn more about the Hen Institute, check out their site, founder Adam Carlin and all of the exciting programming taking place on the Farm through August 8th. Do chick it out!