Ag Career Profile - Josh Mitcham, Artist & Ag-Educator

"That you can marry your love of agriculture with any passion that you have. I have found a way to use these in my daily work and in my hobbies. I think being open to exploring new possibilities for what can be done in the area of agriculture that might include art, music, entrepreneurism, etc., is a worthy task."

Josh Mitcham is an agri-tourism owner, artist, and musician that owns Jericho Woods, BigHead Studios, and The Randall Barn while also serving as Director of KY FFA Leadership Training Center and being a part of the Kentucky Department of Education. Josh serves the KDE as an ag-education advisor and has been teaching ag in the classroom and advocating for ag education for the past 16 years. He's been playing music professionally since 1999 and working as a professional artist and painter since 2008. During that time, he's been a manager, bookkeeper, salesperson, and everything in between! While running The Randall Barn, he's hosted numerous weddings and concert venues that bring people closer to Kentucky agriculture and drive business for Kentucky agri-tourism.

Josh got his start growing up in agriculture. While he's never had formal training as an artist or musician, that hasn't stopped him from combining the arts and agriculture to grow his career. While being part of FFA, he worked at FFA Camp before attending WKU, majoring in agriculture education, and that's where he began to play music publicly and made lifelong partnerships that continue to benefit his career.

As for his duties as the Director of KY FFA Leadership Training Center:

“I oversee the facilities and staff at the KY FFA LTC as well as develop programming for our summer camps. I also consult with and visit new teachers in Agriculture across the state. I also serve on a number of councils and boards representing KY FFA.”

We asked Josh what his favorite part of his job is:

"I am in a position now where I write and record my own music from my home studio on the family farm. I also do most of my commissioned artwork from the same studio. I have done some large-scale installations and murals over the past few years as well. My favorite part of the job(s) is interacting with people, making them feel good and excited about what I am creating for them."