Art takes to the trees at the Morton Arboretum - Lisle, IL

Art takes to the trees at the Morton Arboretum - Naperville Sun


It is not often that when strolling through an arboretum, you pass a tree trunk encased in crocheted yarn. Or a dead tree swaddled in vivid yellow fabric.

But if you wander through the 1,700-acre Morton Arboretum, located in Lisle, about 25 miles west of Chicago, and filled with 4,117 different types of trees, shrubs and plants, these are exactly the type of artistic oddities that you may stumble upon.

The Arboretum recently had 11 national and international artists create artwork designed to sit on the grounds. Artists based their creations on the Arboretum’s landscapes and trees that most inspired them after a tour of the grounds. The resulting exhibit, “Nature Unframed,” offers unique pieces of artwork — some striking and some towering — set among the trees. It runs from May 20 to November 27.

New views

“I really think that visitors who engage with the artwork will have a new way to think and feel about nature, which is so much the unique thing that art can do for us,” said Leslie Goddard, exhibit developer at the Arboretum.