RSS
roots


Home Page > Roots > Tree Museum in NYC inspired by Irish-born artist's love of nature
comment on article Make a comment
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail

Tree Museum in NYC inspired by Irish-born artist's love of nature

Katie Holten's interactive Tree Museum a joy for nature lovers

By
KARA ROTA,
Irish America magazine Assistant Editor

Published Wednesday, August 5, 2009, 12:00 PM
Updated Wednesday, August 5, 2009, 3:01 PM

 

Bookmark and Share

The Tree Museum

NEW YORK CITY'S TREE MUSEUM/CLICK HERE

Irish-born artist Katie Holten is encouraging New Yorkers to commune with nature this summer through her interactive Tree Museum, a public art project along the four-and-a-half-mile Grand Concourse that connects Manhattan to the north Bronx.

Katie conceptualized, planned, and executed the Museum, which consists of 100 trees along the concourse and was commissioned by the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Wave Hill, and the NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation.

Each tree is numbered and outfitted with a sign that provides, along with the species name in English, Spanish, and Latin, a phone number for viewers to call in order to access recordings of the sounds of the borough: animal and insect noises, local music and, at the heart of the exhibit, the voices of those who live and work in the Bronx.

 The audio guide speaks with the authority of local and global knowledge alike, encompassing the vast history and the everyday present of the area with contributors ranging from architect Daniel Libeskind and urban revitalization strategist Majora Carter to community garden activists and neighborhood teenagers.

Katie met with each of the participants, gaining a plethora of individual perspectives on the physical space and social history of the Grand Concourse.

“After meeting someone and having a conversation it would usually be pretty obvious what their story should be,” said Katie in an interview with Irish America.

“When I met Willie Mae Simmons, Lurry Boyd and the other members of the Townsend Avenue Community Garden, they showed me their peachtrees and said they love to have people pop in and help themselves to peaches and other fruits as they usually have too many for themselves. So, their story was about the history of the garden, and Lurry invites listeners to visit and help themselves to some peaches.”

One of Katie’s favorite specimens is the Amur Corktree growing directly outside All Hallows High School, whose students have collaborated on projects with the Tree Museum and whose headmaster is, coincidentally, from Cork.

1 2 Next page >
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail


Be the first to make a comment.

It may take several minutes for your comment to appear.


Click to learn more from DiscoverIreland.com.


Connect to IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

Welcome to IrishCentral!
Please provide the following information in order to create your account

Username:
E-Mail Address:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy


Welcome to IrishCentral!
All we need is the following information and you will be part of the #1 Irish community in the US

E-Mail Address:
First select a unique username:
Username:
Now choose a password:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Thank you!

Just one more step and you will be part of the largest Irish community in America! Tell us a little more about you to start enjoying all the features of IrishCentral.

Additional Information:

First Name:
Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Zip:
Gender: Male  Female 
Country:
Degree of Irishness:
Household Income:
Level of Education:

Subscribe to our newsletters:

The Best of IrishCentral - Daily Newsletter
Special Offers from our sponsors

or
Skip

You can edit your information at any time, just go to "my account" when you're logged in.

Log into IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

E-Mail:
Password:
 Remember me Forgot my password