THE PINE CONE FOREST
2022 – Pine cones, twine, and clothesline
Environmental Art Installation – Collaborative Community Project
The Pinecone Forest is a community-created art installation that explores Michigan’s people and their connection to the forests of the state. It calls to mind Michigan’s logging history and the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps who replanted thousands of pine trees during the 1930s. Students, community organizations, and Art Park visitors worked independently to create strings of pine cones, which, when suspended from clothesline, give the impression of a forest of pine cones. This installation will be displayed through 2022 and early 2023.
This project pays homage to contemporary artists such as Andy Goldsworthy, who uses things he finds in nature to create art; Rebecca Louise Law, who brings nature into museums; and Daniel McCormick and Mary O’Brien, whose goals are to help nature heal through their sculptures.
If you were going to create art using things found in nature, what would you make?
This artwork was supported by Benzie Sunrise Rotary Club, Michigan Arts and Culture Council, and Northwest Michigan Arts and Culture Network.
