The Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery and the Crescent Park Foundation is excited to begin another phase of a unique beautification project in the city’s most beloved park: carving intricate artwork from old tree stumps.
The Tree Carving Project is a continuation of the original initiative from 2016, which invited several artists to help transform stumps of aged or damaged trees into a unique artistic attraction. The program is sponsored by the Crescent Park Foundation, and supported by a grant from the City of Moose Jaw.
“These trees are unfortunately getting to the end of their life cycle and so (instead of) chopping them down entirely, we started thinking about a project where we had an artist do something with them,” said Christy Schweiger, education co-ordinator at the MJMAG and one of the project organizers.
Park caretakers identified four more trees that need to be removed due to age, weight or disease this year, and so the Tree Project requested another opportunity to save the stumps for a greater purpose.
Artists Karen Watson, Dustin Stearns and Kamron Garbe have been selected for this year’s project and they will each be working on their own tree, creating a design that they felt meant something to Crescent Park.
The artists will begin their carving this week and wrap up at the end of the month, and organizers are inviting the public to come and witness the interesting transformation process. Perimeters will be set up around the artist’s workspace for their safety, but people are welcome to stop by anytime.
“It’s mesmerizing, seeing how they can turn the shape (of the tree) into something that’s an art piece, the sculpting of it,” said Schweiger. “We want people to keep coming back and seeing how it’s progressing because right at the beginning it won’t look like much but it definitely transforms as work continues.”
The MJMAG and the artists have shared tentative working dates, which will be subject to both the artist and weather conditions. The goal is to have all three pieces finished by the end of the month, said Schweiger.
Watson will kick off the project on May 14, concluding her Band Festival-inspired piece on May 16. Watson has worked on several other wood carving projects on display around the city, and chose her idea due to Moose Jaw's history as 'The Band City.'
Stearns, who was also born and raised in Moose Jaw, will be working on his tree from May 17-23, creating a flying hawk design that committee members chose from several ideas.
Regina artist Garbe will finish off the public project from May 27-30 by working on his nature-inspired design, which pays homage to the park’s beauty and the migratory species that visit it, including the blue heron.
“We wanted there to be a little more local content in this year’s project, and I think we definitely have that,” said Schweiger.
Schweiger said the project has been very well received by the community and local artists, and the committee intends to keep planning more tree carvings in the future.
“Some of these trees are between 75 and 100 years old (and) we’re turning them into art,” said Schweiger. “It’s kind of evolved, and it will continue as long as there’s funding available and trees to utilize in the park [for] this rejuvenation project.”
Information about the past tree carving artists is posted on the doors of the MJMAG, for those looking to learn more about the history of the project when they visit the current artists.
