Renee Adams and Lindsey Salmonson
UNDERSTORY – Renee Adams, Lindsey Salmonson
"Forests provide shelter, share food communally through mycelial networks, offer shade from hot summer sun, produce compounds for life-saving medicines, and give nutrients to their neighbors… these are just a few of the many benefits provided by trees. Forests support smaller communities of plants, fungi, insects, and micro-organisms. They play a critical role in carbon and nutrient cycling and providing clean air and water for all. About half of our state is forested, and if managed sustainably, can thrive for generations to come.
In so many ways trees are our antithesis. They are rooted in place while we travel freely at ever-increasing speed, produce hard woody bodies compared to our soft flesh, and consume carbon dioxide we exhale while providing us oxygen in return. Without them, our planet would be uninhabitable, our lifestyle unimaginable.
Using science communication as the basis for collaboration and exploration of materials, Lindsey Salmonson and Renee Adams created Understory to share some of the wonder and joy provided by our arboreal neighbors. In collaboration with Josh Humphrey’s wood shop students at Morgan Middle School, their installation of over one hundred wooden leaves represent species commonly found in the forests surrounding the Kittitas Valley. In addition to their individual studio works, they invite the public to participate in “beanbag botany” by relaxing in a pair of custom-made beanbags while thumbing through botany books on loan by the artists in honor of Native Plant Appreciation Month. And for those interested in visiting the woods themselves, the artists will offer a free, guided forest walk in late April.
Whether your interest is in science, botany, hiking, or just an appreciation for trees, the artists invite you to stay a while in the understory."
This exhibit is made possible by funding from the Ellensburg Arts Commission.
"Forests provide shelter, share food communally through mycelial networks, offer shade from hot summer sun, produce compounds for life-saving medicines, and give nutrients to their neighbors… these are just a few of the many benefits provided by trees. Forests support smaller communities of plants, fungi, insects, and micro-organisms. They play a critical role in carbon and nutrient cycling and providing clean air and water for all. About half of our state is forested, and if managed sustainably, can thrive for generations to come.
In so many ways trees are our antithesis. They are rooted in place while we travel freely at ever-increasing speed, produce hard woody bodies compared to our soft flesh, and consume carbon dioxide we exhale while providing us oxygen in return. Without them, our planet would be uninhabitable, our lifestyle unimaginable.
Using science communication as the basis for collaboration and exploration of materials, Lindsey Salmonson and Renee Adams created Understory to share some of the wonder and joy provided by our arboreal neighbors. In collaboration with Josh Humphrey’s wood shop students at Morgan Middle School, their installation of over one hundred wooden leaves represent species commonly found in the forests surrounding the Kittitas Valley. In addition to their individual studio works, they invite the public to participate in “beanbag botany” by relaxing in a pair of custom-made beanbags while thumbing through botany books on loan by the artists in honor of Native Plant Appreciation Month. And for those interested in visiting the woods themselves, the artists will offer a free, guided forest walk in late April.
Whether your interest is in science, botany, hiking, or just an appreciation for trees, the artists invite you to stay a while in the understory."
This exhibit is made possible by funding from the Ellensburg Arts Commission.
