MORE than thirty local artists have come together to put on an exhibition in Chapel Arts Studios (CAS) based in the Chapel in St Mary's Cemetery, Andover. The exhibition is named ‘One Ash - An Anthology’, which showcases different exhibits by these artists, all made from one Ash tree.
The Ash tree was felled in 2020 then the wood was distributed by Andover Trees United (ATU) to a group of artists with wide-ranging skills and talents in order to produce different creative outcomes. The purpose of this was to provide an insight to how imagination combined with natural products can generate extensive possibilities of creativity. Schools in the local area were able to work closely with Chapel Arts Studios to learn about forestry and the processes behind creating such exhibits.
Wendy Davis, project lead and ATU founder states “We really value working with Chapel Arts Studios in this project. We know the importance of art and the arts in connecting people to nature, the value in sharing this work with a wider audience and the fact that art has a way of allowing a more emotional response to the subject - which is vital if we are to empower people to protect the natural world.”
The importance of using only one Ash tree in the exhibition was to highlight the generosity that one piece of natural life can provide. This provides the artists with a more sustainable way to create art and limit the use of trees while also celebrating their life and beauty.
This exhibition is the final celebration of the ATU’s two-year sustainable forestry project, ‘One Ash’. School children from around the local community visited the Ash tree before it was felled to learn about the Ash’s life and importance as a natural organism. The tree was around eighty years old and 22 meters tall, however the tree was in the preliminary stages of ‘ash dieback’, a fungus that kills around 80% of European Ash trees. The tree was then sent to local artists and creatives to give this tree a new lease of life after serving its time in the forest.
Alex Marshall, ATU’s resident ecologist, says “After seeing the branches on the woodland floor, I’m really excited to see it reunited again as a collection of end-products in the exhibition space.”
The exhibition at St Mary’s Cemetery has taught the schools and the local community about sustainable forestry and how the life cycle of a tree does not end after it has been felled. The exhibition of this one Ash tree has shown the strong connection between art and nature.
Susanne Hasselmann, Executive director at CAS states: It has been a great pleasure to work with Andover Trees United on the One Ash project; we’re thrilled to be able to exhibit so much creativity and craftsmanship in Andover.
The show is free to attend and is open 11am - 4pm Thursday - Saturday. The Exhibition will run until July, 23.
More information can be found on the Chapel Arts Studios’ website: chapelartsstudios.co.uk.
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