Giving Tree Project Exhibit At Danforth Museum

My tree (Far right) entitled Seeing the Seasons Through the Trees, will be on display along with 26 other artist creations at the Danforth Museum, Framingham MA from April 15 - August 17, 2012.

The Danforth Museum and School of Art is pleased to collaborate with Reach Out and Read on The Giving Tree Project, a unique exhibition in support of children’s literacy.  Initiated by Newton middle school student Isy Mekler as part of his Bar Mitzvah project, The Giving Tree Project features original work by more than 27 children’s illustrators who responded to the seventh grader’s call to create “trees” for a Reach Out and Read fundraiser. 
The Danforth exhibition features 27 3-dimensional “trees,” and will be on view in the Children’s Gallery from Sunday, April 15 through Sunday, August 17, 2012.  The Giving Tree Project will also be the focus of the Highland Street Foundation’s Free Fun Friday at the Danforth on July 13, 2012.  All are welcome to attend.
  
About The Giving Tree Project
Creating a small forest in the Danforth’s Children’s Gallery, The Giving Tree Project begins with a Danforth exhibition of 27 works of original art created by established and emerging artists from across the country.  These include Newbury Honor book winner Grace Lin; New York Times best-selling author-illustrator Peter Reynolds (of Judy Moody fame); and author-artist John-Paul Jimenez.  Others include Julie Barrett, Andrew Fish, Nancy McCarthy, and Jean Wallace - all alumni and/or staff of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, with whom the Danforth enjoys an educational partnership.   
Grace Lin, who has previously exhibited in the Danforth’s Children’s Gallery, is very excited to be a part of this project. According to Lin, "Books erase bias; they make the uncommon everyday, and the mundane exotic. A book makes all cultures universal." Through The Giving Tree Project, Isy hopes to make books more accessible to children in collaboration with the efforts of Reach Out and Read.
The Giving Tree Project ends with an on-line auction to raise money for Reach Out and Read, which will take place after the show closes at the Danforth.  More details from Reach Out and Read will be forthcoming.


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