Life & Work with Hannah Bianchi

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Bianchi.  

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My school-age career was completely consumed by dance. Along with ballet training, I was also an assistant instructor, which is when my love of teaching started. Professional dance training at the Crooked Tree Arts Center School of Ballet taught me so much more than ballet technique though. It taught me how to work hard, collaborate with others, multitask a busy schedule, helped with my time management, and development of leadership skills. 

When I was eleven, my family started a large vegetable garden, and we began attending Farmers’ Markets. At first, helping in the garden felt like a chore, but it eventually became another love of mine. For our family, farmers’ markets started as just a hobby. We didn’t even have a business name. Sometimes we were the “Veggie Pals,” sometimes “Bianchi Family Farm,” sometimes no name at all. When the market moved to its downtown location, our garden expanded with the growing demand. It became a full family affair and eventually our main form of income. The growth of our farm with the organization and my role with it all happened very organically. I never had intentions of running the entire market, but when our former market master retired, I applied out of fear that someone would come in and ruin the organization that supported my family. It’s a lot of work, but I have definitely learned to love my role with the market. 

After graduating high school, I danced professionally in Chicago but always came home for the summers to help on the farm and teach at Crooked Tree. I also started assisting with technical aspects of Crooked Tree School of Ballet’s performances. After two years of dancing professionally, I attended SUNY Purchase Conservatory as a Dance Major with a production concentration. In college, along with a rigorous dance curriculum, I was able to design lights for over 20 productions and hone my theater tech skills. 

After graduation from college, I stayed in New York for a year, working at theaters and teaching dance in Westchester County and Long Island. 

In 2018, I moved back to Michigan and fully invested myself into the Farm. I also began teaching year-round at Crooked Tree Arts Center and assisting with theater tech at The Great Lakes Center for the Arts. In Fall of 2019, I took over running the Harbor Springs Farmers Market, and in 2020, was offered the position of director of the Harbor Springs Performing Arts Center for Harbor Springs Public Schools. 

Since directing the HSPAC, I have co-directed four successful musicals, designed for numerous band concerts and local productions, and started a theater tech program training students in light design, sound design, stage management, and general theater tech skills. 

My plethora of different jobs in arts and agriculture may seem like completely different worlds, but honestly, I see so much overlap. All are extremely community-driven, and I work my hardest to have education at the center of both worlds. I love what I do and the community I serve. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As for most people, the pandemic was a huge challenge. 2020 was my first full season of managing the Farmers’ Market. Not only was I trying to learn how to manage a market, but also had to figure out how to steer our organization through the pandemic. I had to follow new and constantly changing guidelines, build new infrastructure, create new policies, and find ways to safely enforce them. That summer, I was verbally threatened, physically assaulted and received countless written complaints for the policies of the market. But I was also praised by many others and thanked profusely for keeping the farmers market open and running safely and smoothly. In the end, I believe the pandemic actually helped the market. People were more comfortable shopping outdoors, and supply chains of locally made products were not interrupted. Our customer base grew exponentially that summer, and then those people continued to shop at the market once Covid-19 regulations were lifted. 

My biggest challenge now is time. I have so many jobs that I am passionate about; it can be difficult to manage them all. At this point, I am not willing to give any of them up in order to fully invest in another. I keep telling myself that “someday,” I will figure it all out. For now, though, I am still enjoying them all, and I love being able to make an impact in so many areas of our community. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
This question made me giggle as I really could write a response in any category. 

Personally, I specialize in being busy. I am known for my hard work and enthusiasm in my many positions. 

More about Black Barn Farm: 

Our Family Farm holds a special place in my heart. It is an ongoing project that continues to grow and change, and the time I spend there is always with family. I have learned a plethora of useful skills from my parents, and they have also gained skills from me. I have brought a different perspective that has helped our business evolve. My first year back from New York, we attended our favorite summer event, which included various artisan craftsman demonstrations, antique farm equipment, and displays. On our drive home, my dad said it would be fun to host a similar event at the farm someday. He planted the seed, which was all I needed to host our First Annual “Harvest Festival” less than three months later. The festival was a perfect way to invite the community to our family farm to celebrate the harvest season, educate people on the offerings of our farm, and support our local artisans and farmers, all while enjoying live music, history lectures, and food. We created a special “Cultivating Community” activity that got attendees to visit other local businesses in our village and had kids’ stations set up with hands-on activities. That same Fall, I also received an email from a local kindergarten teacher asking if our farm was open for field trips? We had never hosted a school trip, and even though my mom thought I was crazy, I jumped at the opportunity. We have now had hundreds of students at the farm, and it is one of my favorite fall traditions! The teachers have said it’s the most organized and educational trip they take the kids on. We set up several stations that the classes rotate through. They get to make homemade apple cider with our antique press, have storytime with a local author about pollinators, feel, touch, and identify seeds, learn about parts of plants, walk around the farm identifying plants, feed the pigs and chickens, and a whole lot more. If I had more time, incorporating more farm field trips and knowledge of healthy foods in our local school curriculum would be the first area I’d focus on. 

More about the Harbor Springs Farmers Market: 

The Harbor Springs Farmers Market is dedicated to creating awareness of our local food economy, supporting small farms and locally sourced food businesses, providing opportunities for local entrepreneurs, educating our youth, and creating weekly events that educate the mind, nourish the body, and promote vibrant living. 

Our various programs include Young Entrepreneurs, which allows kids a free opportunity to sell at the market; the Market Pantry, which donates fresh food to our local food pantries, Music at the Market, which supports local musicals; our Market Sprouts Educational programs, community outreach, special events such as Kids Days and Blood Drives, and our commitment to our vendors set our organization aside from other local markets in the area. The farmers market not only impacts the community by giving customers access to fresh local food but also directly impacts the success of 40+ small local businesses and the families who own them. I do not make more money if the market is successful; I just love this organization, its mission, and the impact it makes in our community. 

More About Crooked Tree Arts Center School of Ballet: 

CTAC School of Ballet was so important to me growing up. It has been an honor and privilege to remain part of the organization. I have taught hundreds of students the important skills I gained through the program, and it has been amazing to watch so many of them flourish into well-rounded, respectful, and hardworking people. The program has produced several professional dancers, but even the students who choose not to pursue dance walk away better humans. The sense of community and comradery the program creates is something special. 

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
When introducing myself to new people, I rarely say I’m from a particular city, but rather “Northern Michigan.” I work mostly in Harbor Springs; the Farm is located in Cross Village, and I live in Levering. Perhaps the most challenging yet beneficial part of Northern Michigan is our huge tourist population. A large portion of Farmers Market customers are summer residents with disposable incomes who have the time to attend the market often. To local residents in the surrounding area, Harbor Springs can have the reputation of being a little hoity-toity with entitled and snobbish people. Although we occasionally get an unkind person, for the majority of market customers, that couldn’t be further from the truth. My challenge is making the market accessible, inviting, and important to full-time residents, especially ones who are economically disadvantaged. I have made some progress in this area by the market accepting food assistance programs, donating thousands of dollars of food to local pantries, and offering free educational programs and activities, but there is definitely more I’d like to do. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.harborspringsfarmersmarket.org, www.blackbarnfarmcv.wixsite.com/bianchi
• Instagram: @harborspringsfarmersmarket, @blackbarnfarmcv, @ctacschoolofballet
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harborspringsfarmmarket/, https://www.facebook.com/blackbarnfarmcv/