Blue Trees Sacramento
A magnificent living outdoor art project, "The Blue Trees", will be installed in Sacramento this week and will last approximately six months. The Blue Trees project is a part of artist Konstantin Dimopoulos' effort to call attention to global deforestation, and is supported* by several local organizations and businesses because of its ability to call attention to Sacramento's valuable urban forest and the unique benefits of visiting our city.
Twenty mature trees and forty container trees will be colored bright blue by the artist and Sacramento Tree Foundation volunteers. The blue pigment used on the trees is a non-toxic, environmentally-friendly substance that will stay on the trees for up to six months.
Dimopoulos has installed The Blue Trees in Melbourne (2006), Vancouver (2011), Auckland (2011) and Seattle (2012). Sacramento will be the fifth Blue Trees city before the Dimopoulos takes his project to Gainesville, Florida in late October and Houston in 2013. He is currently in discussions to expand the project to New York, Boston, Liverpool and Vienna.
Twelve of the trees are located on 13th Street on the same side as the Convention Center. The other eight trees are located on the west side of the street. Forty #15 container trees will also be colored to be showcased around town, before being planted in a site to be determined.
In addition to supporting the artist's effort to call attention to global deforestation, local sponsors support the Blue Trees project for additional reasons.
Lead sponsors :
- The Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau is committed to optimizing the Sacramento experience for visitors, and to generating positive news stories for the region. While many upcoming conferences will experience The Blue Trees, three in particular will have immediate exposure to the installation: American Institute of Architects; California Downtown Association and the National Urban Forest conference.
- The Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission is committed to expanding public experiences of visual art by installing artworks in public spaces.
- The Sacramento Tree Foundation is pleased that The Blue Trees will generate interest in, and conversation about, trees! The Tree Foundation would like to also call attention to plight of the city's iconic elm trees; and to encourage the public to plant and care for trees.
- Sactown Magazine, June/July 2012: "Here in Sacramento, we take great pride in our trees, but we don't always notice them. That's something that Egyptian-born Australian artist Konstantin Dimopoulos is trying to change in cities around the world." The article issued the challenge, "Why not commission him to bring his ‘Blue Trees' project to the City of Trees?"
