Jordan Ramos first stepped into a wild blueberry field the summer before her sophomore year at the University of Maine. What started as environmental research transformed into the beginning of an artistic path rooted in Maine’s working landscapes.
Raised in Bristol, Rhode Island, Ramos was familiar with New England’s history but had never spent time in Maine’s wild blueberry barrens. That first season in the field introduced her not only to the ecology of the crop but to the people, labor and traditions tied to one of the state’s iconic foods.
Now preparing to graduate as an Honors College student with a double major in ecology and environmental sciences and studio art, Ramos shaped her education around that experience. As a rising sophomore, she joined the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Wild Blueberry Research Team and spent three summers exploring barrens in the midcoast and Downeast regions.
Working alongside growers and researchers, she learned to observe the landscape closely, recording what she saw through notes, photos and sketches that would later inform her art.
Her time in the fields quickly influenced her academic direction. What began as environmental research grew into a deeper artistic interest, prompting her to pursue additional studio courses and eventually focus her art on Maine’s wild blueberry heritage.
“Meeting such passionate professors who believed in me and my work, it really helped me feel confident that I could pursue a degree in art,” Ramos said. “I have a connection to ecosystems, and I think that’s the part that I really see myself continuing to develop as a growing artist.”
Perspective of places, sciences she studies
Through her work, Ramos shares her perspective of the places and sciences she studies. She has focused part of her Honors thesis on the cultural heritage and history of Maine’s lowbush blueberries.
Her series of watercolor paintings show the vastness of the fields and the people who handrake them each summer. Her colors are earthy and soft, created from natural soil based pigments.
In the future, Ramos may even explore using blueberries and other plants or fruits with natural pigments to create her own watercolors. After earning her degree this winter, she plans to stay in Maine making environmental art that speaks to the importance of conserving natural resources and places that, like people, are entangled in Earth’s larger ecosystems.
“I definitely feel so much love for Maine that I’ve come to really feel like it’s my second home while studying here in college,” said Ramos, who is also an ambassador for the Honors College. “There’s so many different, intersecting factors of the natural landscape and community.”
Connecting fieldwork with cultural heritage
In high school, Ramos said she never connected to science classes like chemistry and physics. She never saw herself as being a lab scientist and had always been drawn to “the humanity side of learning and topics.”
It wasn’t until she came to UMaine and gained research experiences outdoors that she started using art to communicate what she was learning about in the environment. One of her first pieces that combined science and art was a large watercolor painting depicting workers in long rows of vegetable fields, held up by two large hands.
She aimed to raise awareness of how these agricultural workers harvest much of America’s food. Ramos continued to thread that theme into her work with Extension’s Wild Blueberry Research Team, led by Extension specialist Lily Calderwood.
“It is incredibly important to share the grit and humanity behind agricultural commodities in a time when people are very disconnected from their food, especially who harvests their food,” Calderwood said. “This industry is culturally and economically important for the state of Maine. Its preservation touches a lot of people who live here year round and those who visit.”
Talked to growers about management and more
With Calderwood’s team, Ramos talked to growers about management practices, economics and ecological obstacles, such as from pests, disease and drought. She said they echoed similar challenges regarding low-profit seasons and labor shortages, as well as unpredictable temperatures and precipitation making field management and yield predictability difficult.
Despite the challenges they face, Ramos said the growers uphold a strong commitment to and pride for the wild blueberry industry and its cultural significance in Maine.
Along with talking to the growers, Ramos harvested blueberries with local, seasonal and Passamaquoddy and Mi’kmaq tribal hand-rakers in the fields to learn about their perspectives and traditions when it comes to wild blueberries.
Calderwood said Ramos’ paintings reflect aspects of Maine’s wild blueberry industry that research does not — the social aspects of the people who grow them, the fields where they’re grown and the state economy in which blueberries contribute $360 million annually.
“Artwork has always been a special way to convey the natural world, and it is grounding to see that art is still such a powerful communication tool,” Calderwood said.
Contact: Ashley Yates; ashley.depew@maine.edu
