From An Oak Tree Come Works Of Art And An Education For All Ages

By Shannon Hicks

NEW MILFORD — In 1903, the first parcel of land was purchased in Portland to become the first state forest. At the time, the forests of Connecticut were being misused to the point that only 20 percent of the state had forest cover. From the time on, land has been purchased and donated for the purpose of conserving forestland to enhance the health of our state’s environment.

In September 2003, the first 100 years of forest management was celebrated by selecting the Centennial Oak from the original parcel of land now known as Meshomasic State Forest. The white oak tree was then divided among 47 state artists and artisans to develop works that would illustrate the many uses of wood and forests.

The beauty and importance of the state’s forests was illustrated through a yearlong traveling exhibition, “Art from Connecticut Forests.” Through the collective display of work the public has been able to see the volume of wood a single tree could produce and the variety of ways it is used to create useable and artistic items.

Sculptures helped to illustrate the role forests play in providing for wildlife, habitat diversity, watershed protection, food products, and recreation. More than 4,000 people have taken part in gallery talks, programs, and tours of the exhibit since its debut in July 2004 at The Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford. The closest presentation for Newtown residents was in December and January, when the exhibition visited the Kellogg Environmental Center in Derby.

At its final location, The Silo Gallery in New Milford, a selection of pieces was auctioned during the closing event on April 2. The live auction was conducted by Litchfield County Auctions. Tania Bongiolatti served as auctioneer.

The project was the brainchild of Susan Quincy, an environmental educator at Kellogg Environmental Center in Derby.

“Susan saw a Sunday morning television program about forestry and a project in England called The One Tree,” Kellogg Center director Diane Joy explained during an April 2 Art from Connecticut Forests event.

“The TV program talked about how these artists each took part of a tree and then created something with it. Susan came into work the next day and said ‘Why can’t we do something like that?’” continued Ms Joy. “This was the first time the Kellogg Center has taken on something like this.”

It was Ms Quincy who was responsible for most of the six venues for exhibition around the state.

“Susan had a vision, she stuck to it, and we’re grateful for that perseverance,” said Ms Joy. “We also did what we set out to do with this project: We’ve educated people about the environment. We’ve taught people about renewable resources.”

The auction on April 2 included 31 lots, each a piece of art that had been created for the exhibition and subsequent auction.

Former state troubadour Dennis Waring took some of the white oak and created an inlaid “Old-Timey Banjo.” The instrument needed tuning but it could be played, and it sold for just a song at $500.

Mary Bailey of Redding saw mixed results for her eight pieces from a series she called “The Life and Times of the 100-Year-Old Meshomasic White Oak.” Two works, “The Acorn” and “The Seedling,” were both passed on; “The Burl,” an almost phallic cutting from the tree’s trunk, sold for $25, as did “96 Years,” a cross-cut from the tree; “A Knot” sold for $50; and “The Chestnut,” “The Birds’s Cabin” and “R.I.P. (Rot In Peace)” were all passed.

Robert Dancik’s “Spirit Vest from Kaoeert,” an intricate work created by the Oxford artist, was bid on and won by Weston Thorn, the president and principal auctioneer of Litchfield County Auctions.

Also selling was James Degen’s “Centennial Urn,” at $250; a set of hand turned and carved candlesticks by Frank Suatoni, $150; and “The Pinchot Sycamore,” a charcoal work by Christopher Herron, which sold for $425.

Mr Herron had taken some of the wood from the Centennial Tree and burned it. He then used the pieces of burnt wood and ash to create the charcoal work, which depicts the largest tree in the state.

The drawing was purchased, it was discovered later, by Mary Moulton, who is a board member of Farmington River Watershed Association. Ms Moulton will be donating the painting she purchased at The Silo to a silent auction event FRVA is holding in September, so Mr Herron’s painting may earn more money for a second nonprofit group later this year.

Unfortunately, of the lots offered more than half were passed on because they did not meet their modest reserves. Even Barbara Hocker’s “Preservation of Solitude” — a mixed media work that incorporated branches from the Centennial Tree, photos of the tree and its surroundings before the felling, and abstract monotypes inspired by the tree and the photographs — did not sell even though the work, which was priced at $20,000 during the traveling exhibition (most pieces carried preauction purchase prices; Mr Waring’s banjo, for instance, had been tagged at $2,000 in the exhibition), had an opening price of $14,000.

Also not making reserve was Nancy McTague-Stock’s “Charter Oak Views, Triptych,” a series of solarized etchings and computer overlays (its reserve was $500); James Wurzback’s “Table/Bench,” a functional work that exhibits the preservation of a burn scar found in the lumber (also a $500 reserve); and Grace Butler’s three items — “Surrogate Quilt,” created in part with brown fabric that had been dyed from the wood and incorporating Ms Butler’s original patterns, as well as the pieces “Face in The Wood” and “Musical Banjo.”

Newtown artist Tracy Van Buskirk contributed to Art from Connecticut Forests. “Oaken Memories” was created with leaves, some bark and branches from the Centennial Tree, and images she found in a 1964 yearbook at a book sale. That yearbook, ironically, was called The Oak.

Her work was a clever combination of her materials and nostalgia, but it did not sell, even with just a $150 reserve.

Participating artists came from all parts of the state. In addition to the abovementioned artists were those who live in Bethel, Bethlehem, Branford, Brooklyn, Burlington, Chaplin, Cheshire, Colombia, Essex, Glastonbury, Killingworth, New Hartford, New Haven, North Canaan, Portland, Shelton, Stony Creek, Waterbury, Watertown, Woodbury and Woodstock.

Proceeds from the evening event and sales will be used to support forest conservation programs offered statewide by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. A portion of the sales will also go to The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm for their continued support and work in land conservation in New Milford.

The irony of what happened to the Centennial Tree was not completely lost on some visitors to the auction.

“Someone came up to me tonight,” Ms Joy said the evening of the auction, with a laugh, “and said ‘Let me get this straight: You celebrated the centennial of Connecticut’s forests by cutting down a tree?”