Speaking for the Trees
The Chestnuts are partnering with the Nashville Tree Conservation Corps (NTCC) on a Exhibit and Sale at the Gordon Jewish Community Center (GJCC) for the month of September 2020. There will be space for 60 paintings to be displayed. Each Chestnut will likely be limited to one entry until we can measure response. (The GJCC will jury which art works to exhibit if we have too many entries.)
Background for Subject Matter – Nashville is losing thousands of mature trees annually from more intensive development of land being overhauled by construction that is adding greater density on both residential and commercial properties. Metro has woefully inadequate tree ordinances even when compared to nearby municipalities and to other cities across the Southeast.
“Speaking for the Trees” is part of a series of events being sponsored to elevate awareness of the need to upgrade our tree codes and to get citizens to voice concerns to their council members about supporting such measures. A healthy, protected tree canopy should be central to any of the Environmental/Sustainability goals Metro is reviewing. Nothing else on earth sequesters carbon and produces oxygen while filtering impurities from the air like trees. They retain storm water runoff, a big Metro issue, in amazing ways. Planting new trees is important, but the watering and care to stabilize saplings and mature them, requires decades to realize a fraction of the impact generated by the 40 to 80 year-old trees being cleared out.
This background is to provide the guidelines in choosing your subjects. We ideally want the paintings to feel like individual “tree portraits” have been rendered. Paintings should prominently feature a signature tree or significant massings of trees that have a location that can be identified on the title block. These “heritage trees” get cut down – one-by-one. They need to appear as individuals – not generic. Landmark buildings or recognizable elements from local parks can help bring that character to the work.
Locations within Davidson County are best, but any county having a border with Davidson is acceptable and meets the “Nashville Area” which is how we’ll market the show. You may enter paintings completed over the past 10 or so years, but we do ask that the scene still retain any featured tree or trees to be recognizable now. Try to have some “Plein Air” connection to the scene!
Deadline for Show – Paintings will be delivered on September 1, 2020, to the GJCC and displayed for a month. Title blocks will be due August 7th to help us gauge number of entries. Updated August 3, 2020.
Possible Future Tree Shows – We are exploring additional venues for more “Tree” shows because raising awareness is a big part of what this about. It speaks directly to the Chestnut Group’s purpose of “protecting the natural and historic landscapes of Middle Tennessee”.
Please check out and support the tree-advocacy nonprofit we’re partnering with at https://www.nashvilletreeconservationcorps.org/about
Sign up for the NTCC news. Here also is a recent, timely, opinion piece from the NY Times by local auhor Margaret Renkl noting our local tree issues. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/opinion/trillion-trees-trump-climate.html
Updated August 3, 2020