The Think Potato Institute (TPI) is an interdisciplinary archive, educational platform, research initiative, and cultural institution dedicated to advancing the study of the potato’s place within art, history, culture, and society.
For a more detailed overview of the Institute’s mission, history, and long-term vision, please visit the About TPI page.
POTATOISM is a philosophical, artistic, and cultural framework developed by Jeffrey Allen Price. First articulated in 2003, POTATOISM examines the potato as a symbolic object through which broader questions of creativity, history, identity, labor, humor, myth, and collective imagination may be explored.
For a more detailed explanation, please visit the POTATOISM page.
Potato Humanities is an emerging field of inquiry that examines the cultural, artistic, historical, symbolic, scientific, and imaginative life of the potato. Developed through the work of Jeffrey Allen Price and the Think Potato Institute, it provides a framework for exploring how a single crop has influenced art, culture, history, agriculture, folklore, media, and collective imagination.
For a more detailed explanation, please visit the Potato Humanities page.
The potato is the most nutritious, abundant, and versatile vegetable in the world. It has helped feed civilizations, shaped economies, inspired artistic expression, generated myths and folklore, and continues to play an important role in everyday life across cultures.
For more than three decades, Jeffrey Allen Price has explored these connections through collecting, research, exhibitions, teaching, writing, and artistic practice. The Think Potato Institute examines the potato not only as a food crop, but as a cultural symbol, historical actor, artistic subject, and shared object of human experience.
The Think Potato Institute was founded by artist, curator, educator, and writer Jeffrey Allen Price. His potato-centered artistic, scholarly, and curatorial activities began in the 1990s and have developed over more than three decades through exhibitions, collecting, research, publications, lectures, festivals, and creative projects.
The Institute serves as a platform for preserving, interpreting, and expanding this ongoing body of work while advancing the emerging fields of POTATOISM and Potato Humanities.
For additional information about Jeffrey Allen Price’s background, artwork, research, and projects, please visit the Jeffrey Allen Price page.
Not in the traditional sense. The Think Potato Institute functions as an archive, collection, educational platform, research initiative, and cultural institution devoted to the study of the potato’s place within art, history, culture, and society.
While TPI does not currently operate a permanent public museum, it regularly presents exhibitions, lectures, workshops, publications, and other forms of public programming. The Institute’s long-term vision includes the development of a permanent center dedicated to potato-related art, research, collections, education, and public engagement.
The Think Potato Institute maintains a collection of approximately 6,000 physical potato-related objects, including artworks, books, photographs, advertisements, toys, tools, educational materials, food packaging, ephemera, and other forms of potato-related culture.
In addition to its physical holdings, TPI maintains an extensive archive of digital materials documenting what Jeffrey Allen Price has termed POTATOPHENA—a growing record of potato-related references, jokes, idioms, stories, screenshots, notes, recordings, and other cultural traces collected from everyday life. Together, these physical and digital archives comprise many thousands of additional research materials documenting the potato’s presence throughout culture and collective imagination.
The Think Potato Institute does not currently operate a permanent public museum with regular visiting hours. However, portions of the collection and archive may be made available for research, educational purposes, media projects, exhibitions, or special visits by appointment.
As TPI continues to develop, opportunities for public access, exhibitions, workshops, and educational programming will continue to expand.
Yes. Lectures, workshops, presentations, and public programs are an important part of the Think Potato Institute’s mission. TPI has organized and participated in exhibitions, conferences, educational programs, festivals, and public events that explore the potato through the lenses of art, history, culture, agriculture, collecting, and creative practice.
Programs may be developed for museums, universities, schools, conferences, festivals, community organizations, and other institutions interested in potato-related culture, research, and education.
Please visit the Contact page for inquiries regarding lectures, workshops, speaking engagements, and educational programming.
Yes. Exhibitions have been a central component of the Think Potato Institute’s activities since its founding. Through solo exhibitions, group exhibitions, festivals, curatorial projects, educational programs, and collaborative initiatives, TPI has explored the potato through the lenses of art, history, culture, collecting, agriculture, and public engagement.
The Institute continues to develop new exhibition opportunities while supporting research, education, and creative projects related to POTATOISM, Potato Humanities, and the broader cultural life of the potato.
Please visit the Contact page for exhibition inquiries and collaboration opportunities.
Yes. The Think Potato Institute is interested in preserving potato-related objects, documents, photographs, publications, ephemera, cultural materials, and other forms of POTATOPHENA that contribute to a broader understanding of the potato’s place within art, history, culture, and society. Personal stories, local traditions, unusual discoveries, and other forms of cultural documentation may also be of interest.
Because of space, preservation, and collection priorities, not all donations can be accepted. Individuals interested in donating materials are encouraged to contact TPI with information and photographs of the items they wish to contribute.
Please visit the Contact page for donation inquiries.
There are many ways to support the Think Potato Institute. Individuals can contribute by sharing potato-related stories, photographs, research materials, cultural references, historical information, collection items, and examples of POTATOPHENA. Researchers, educators, artists, collectors, and institutions are also encouraged to explore opportunities for collaboration.
Support may also take the form of attending lectures and exhibitions, participating in educational programs, sharing TPI resources, contributing to the archive, or helping connect the Institute with potential partners and audiences.
As the Institute continues to grow, additional opportunities for membership, donations, sponsorships, publications, and Gift Shop purchases may become available. Please visit the Contact page to learn more.
The Think Potato Institute welcomes inquiries regarding research, exhibitions, lectures, workshops, collaborations, media requests, collection donations, and other potato-related projects.
Please visit the Contact page or email the Institute directly. TPI welcomes opportunities to connect with researchers, educators, artists, collectors, institutions, and members of the public interested in the cultural life of the potato.