FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 29, 2009

Bronx, NY—Along a four-and-a-half-mile stretch of the Grand Concourse—the historic boulevard connecting Manhattan to the parks of the north Bronx—a most unusual “museum without walls” is currently open and remains on view 24 hours a day, seven days a week until October 12, 2009 as part of the centennial celebration of the “Park Avenue of the working class.”

Conceived and realized by the Irish artist Katie Holten, the Tree Museum invites pedestrians to experience the Bronx in unexpected ways, offering insights into its hardy communities and fragile ecologies. 100 green and flowering trees from 138th Street to Mosholu Parkway, including shade varieties planted a century ago as tiny saplings for the Concourse’s Grand Opening, are the points of entry to this museum.

“I’m using the trees as a starting point to look at all the neighborhoods, the environment, and how everything is connected,” says Katie Holten. “I see it as a way to give a voice to the inhabitants, the streets, and neighborhoods from the past, present, and future.” The audio guide at the core of theTree Museum links the natural and social ecosystems. Markers will identify the trees by species and location number. By keying the location number into a cell phone, a sidewalk “museum-goer” will be able to access audio segments that overlay impressions of the past, present, and future to a walk along the Concourse, whether it be the way that weather affects tree growth or visions of the pre-Concourse Bronx with farmland as far as the eye can see, the glory days of the 1920s, and the rise of Hip Hop in the 1970s. DJ Jazzy Jay, the architect Daniel Libeskind, urban revitalization strategist Majora Carter, local beekeeper Roger Repohl, community garden activists, local historians, and neighborhood teenagers will be among those sharing their stories and knowledge. Other segments will bring the sounds of the borough’s trees, animals, and insects to the listener, as well as music by some of the Bronx’s best-known talent.

Drawings, sketches, and writings by Holten related to the concept and planning of the Tree Museum, information on current “green” activities on the Grand Concourse, and artwork about the areas ecosystems by local school children will be presented in two satellite exhibitions: one at Wave Hill on view from June 21 to October 12, 2009, and the other at The Bronx Museum of the Arts from August 2, 2009 to October 25, 2009. The Bronx Museum exhibition, entitled Intersections: The Grand Concourse Commissions, features works of art commissioned to honor the centenary of the Grand Concourse, including large-format color photographs of specific points along the boulevard by Jeff Liao (Taiwan).

Tree Museum collaborators include All Hallows High School, School for Environmental

Citizenship: PS 386, Bronx County Historical Society, Bronx Writing Academy, DreamYard Preparatory School, New Settlement's Bronx Helpers, Risse Street Community Garden, South Bronx Urban Farm, Sustainable South Bronx, Bronx River Alliance, Daniel Libeskind, Klaus Lackner, DJ Jazzy Jay, and borough residents Valerie Capers, Majora Carter, FeSS, and Joyce Hogi.

The Tree Museum is a collaborative project by The Bronx Museum of the Arts and Wave Hill, in cooperation with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. The project was created with support from The Greenwall Foundation's Oscar M. Ruebhausen Commission.

For more information on the Tree Museum please visit www.treemuseum.org or www.twitter.com/TREE_MUSEUM.