13 MAY 11-17, 2023 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | Branching Out While La Alma Lincoln Park is known for murals created over the past several decades — as well as the big First Friday events in gal- leries and venues along Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe — younger artists are getting in on the action, too. For the past year, Colorado artist Melody Epperson has been working on a visual and sound installation project named “Tree Tales,” collaborating with the Arts Street program that’s located half a block from La Alma Lin- coln Park. As part of the project, eight young artists painted yellow, orange and red fl ags that now adorn the branches of eight trees in the installation; each one includes a digital recording of a story about the tree recorded by the artist that visitors can fi nd online via QR codes. The young artists involved in the project were “really embedded into the community,” Epperson says, noting that some of them grew up in the neighborhood and even have par- ents who were involved in Arts Street when they were younger. That program serves ages 14 to 24. “They’re really connected to that com- munity, and I appreciate how sensitive they are and aware of the different organizations there,” she adds. “The project is nice in that it was made by a generation that was very aware of its community.” Epperson wants the installation to re- mind people of their connections with other people and with nature. Her inspiration for the project stemmed from scientifi c articles about trees that she read while passing the time during the COVID-19 lockdown. “The trees support one another and nurture one another,” she says. “I found it a rich meta- phor in the fact that nature has managed to navigate really complex problems like fi res, and much like us during our pandemic, they’re able to stay connected and support and recover.” The idea of decorating trees with fl ags and stories emerged as Epperson did more research and noticed that trees play educational and spiritual roles in cultures throughout the world. “There’s a whole bunch of traditional tales that use trees as the instrument of teaching lessons or providing spiritual guidance or creation stories,” she says. “If people will slow down and notice the trees and listen to the stories, then they’ll not only gain wisdom from the trees, but they’ll recognize our own interdependence with each other and with nature.” Initially she thought about adorning trees within an eighty-mile radius. But as she fi ne- tuned the concept, she decided to narrow her focus and go with eight artists in the Arts Street program, since she’d worked with the organization before. The participants chosen to paint the fl ags came up with their own stories about the trees. A few are retellings of legends, such as the Nordic story of Yggdrasill, the old ash tree that holds together the universe and whose roots extend to the heavens and the under- world. Other stories are completely original, like one about an immigrant from India who ponders the similarities and differences be- tween the banyan trees of her native country and the apple trees in her New Jersey home. The students recorded their stories at Youth on Record, another nonprofi t orga- nization based in the neighborhood. Fund- ing for the project came from Denver’s P.S. You Are Here grant program, which funds neighborhood-based arts projects around the city. “Tree Tales,” which debuted earlier this month, is expected to stay in place through November. During her time exploring the area for installation sites, Epperson realized that the park “truly is a hub for the neighbor- hood,” she says. “It has all the rich history of the Chicano movement,” she adds. “It is a beautiful con- nection or metaphor for what the project is, which is about community and about supporting. It’s about regrowth and reju- venation, and the park has the depth of the meaning.” — KELTY Painted fl ags are part of the “Tree Tales” installation in La Alma Lincoln Park. MELODY EPPERSON Denver, get ready to step it up! The Susan G. Komen 3-Day® is coming to Denver! Walk 20, 40 or 60 miles with us in the fight to end breast cancer. August 25–27, 2023 Register Now The3Day.org/Westword
