Davis Square exhibit focuses on Somerville trees

On December 18, 2020, in Latest News, by The Somerville Times

The two gallery windows displaying the exhibit.

“Noticing the trees around us — on our commutes, in our yards, parks, or neighborhoods — is the first step to valuing them,” and the rationale behind a Somerville tree-themed photo exhibit entitled R.O.O.T. (Recognizing Our Oldest Trees), now on display in the Inside-Out Gallery, the outdoor gallery beside the Davis Square CVS, where it can be viewed safely from the sidewalk. 

The exhibit was organized by a group of Somerville residents hoping to encourage viewers to look more closely at the trees around them, to help protect and conserve these trees, and to learn more about trees living in an urban environment. The photographs were selected not only for their aesthetic qualities, but also to draw attention to the beauty and environmental benefits of Somerville trees and to acknowledge the places where human activity often comes into conflict with these trees.

The organizers — Somerville residents Kerrie Kemperman, Deb Pacini, Renee Scott and Melissa McWhinney — have been concerned about tree losses across the city.

“The exhibit is motivated by our understanding that trees are a valuable natural resource often thought of as expendable,” they noted. “Trees tend to be cut or removed whenever they interfere with human goals: power lines, roads and train lines, sidewalks, housing construction… which are not inherently bad reasons to cut down a tree, but it is worth considering these as opportunities to work around trees that are already well established in a particular spot.”

The Somerville R.O.O.T. exhibit was produced with the assistance and support of the Somerville Arts Council and is on display until January 15, 2021.

“If we are good stewards, trees will live hundreds of years, cleaning the air, decreasing flooding, and cooling city air temperatures on hot summer days,” the ROOT collective noted. “Trees provide shelter and food for many types of wildlife, and grace our lives with their beauty.” 

The participating artists are all Somerville residents. Their names and brief bios are below.

For more information, contact somervilleroot@gmail.com or visit ROOT’s Facebook page: @SomervilleROOT.

The organizers and photographers are:

Kerrie L. Kemperman (R.O.O.T co-organizer), Somerville resident since 2000, is a photographer at Washington Street Art Center. She was awarded an Artist Fellowship from the Somerville Arts Council.

Deb Pacini (R.O.O.T co-organizer), a Somerville resident since 1995, created a photo essay about the city’s largest trees at www.debpacini.net/sylvan-seniors.

Renée Scott  (R.O.O.T co-organizer) is co-founder of Green & Open Somerville and has been a Somerville resident since 1999. 

Melissa McWhinney (R.O.O.T co-organizer) has been a resident for 30 years and planted 13 trees in her small Somerville yard. 

Lesley Bannatyne: As a freelance journalist who has lived in Somerville since 1998, Lesley Bannatyne has covered topics ranging from tree ring science to relief workers in Bolivia. This is her first photography show.

Sam Engelstad has been a resident of Prospect Hill in Somerville for 22 years. He wonders what bureaucratic hiccup enabled the unique decision to allow the sidewalk to be built around this tree, thus protecting it, instead of cutting the poor thing down.

 Jeanine Farley is an educational writer living in Somerville. She is a hobbyist photographer, who enjoys capturing Somerville’s many species of creatures. Last summer in Somerville, she photographed some Golden Northern bumblebees, which might become extinct in a generation or two. Plant native, folks! Save our native bees.

Janine Fay, who has lived in Somerville for 40 years, loves trees, people, and photography.

Stephen Krasner: 1970s Somerville resident. Photographing since Jr. High newspaper and a few years studying with Minor White at MIT. Capturing Somerville since moving back here a few years ago. Often focused on more abstract images than what I’ve done for this exhibit. More at www.bigtoeimages.com

 Betsy Lenora is a writer and photographer living in Somerville. Trees are her favorite people. Moved to Somerville in 1976, moved back to Somerville 2016 after a 20-year hiatus to Cambridge.

Special thanks to Heather Balchunas (Somerville Arts Council) for installing the exhibit.

 

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