"The Singing Tree"

This is a pilot project for a much larger idea, inspired by a ten-year-old Meredith Miller of Hillsboro Elementary School who said "What if all the children of the world made a painting together?" Step one was to see what happens when "all the children of Rappahannock County make a painting together."

I designed the image inspired by a book by Kate Seredy called "The Singing Tree." Here is the story: During World War I, soldiers spent a night crawling on their bellies through the dead landscape of war, trying to avoid the enemy. Because of the fighting, there were no standing trees, no rabbits, no birds, no houses or buildings, no squirrels, no people, no evidence of life as they inched mile after mile in the mud and darkness. Not one living creature or plant crossed their path through the weary ordeal. As the sun broke through the darkness of the terrifying night, they came across a tree that was in tact. All the birds in the area had come to the only living shelter that still existed for miles around. Birds that didn’t normally occupy close quarters were sharing the tree. All the birds were singing. One by one, the soldiers stood up to face the rising sun and honor the resilience of life. Their fear of being shot by the enemy was defeated by a solitary presence of Nature’s abundance.

The image of the mural is based on the idea that the earth is "The Singing Tree" of the solar system - perhaps in the Milky Way and beyond. Our planet is teeming with different life forms in unlikely combination, surrounded by emptiness for millions of miles.

The goal of the project was to promote an understanding of that which unites the young people of Rappahannock; to increase young people's feeling of belonging and purpose; to use an historical story as the basis of an artwork, which underlines the connections between the disciplines; to solve the visual engineering problem of organizing such a complex image and to have Rappahannock teens take a leadership position in producing an original work of art that will hopefully inspire others. A final destination has not been determined for the painting, which will be exhibited at all the schools that participated. After the completion of this pilot project, grants will be written to create more "Singing Trees" around the country and the world.

Young people under the age of twelve made leaves for the tree with a symbol of something they care about or a self-portrait. Middle school students made self-portraits for the trunk and the high school students made a section of the earth. Anyone who has lost an immediate family member was invited to create a star. About 1000 young people worked on the painting, from ages 3 to 18. Participants included the Child Care and Learning Center, Wakefield Country Day School, Rappahannock County Elementary & High School, Hearthstone School and Homeschoolers.

If you are interested in creating a Singing Tree in your community, contact me.

Click here for Singing Tree details

or Click here for pictures from its creation

or to see how it has grown, visit The Singing Tree Project Online