The tale of the tree that endures on Cumberland Road
Artists turn a stump into a sculpture and so much more
A tree grew on Northwest Cumberland Road, and Bonnie Harris loved it very much. It was there when Bonnie and her husband, Bill, bought their home in 1970.
It was a very large, 100-year-old cedar of Lebanon tree, and it was like no other. She watched it every day and thought it was “very sweeping and beautiful.”
She was sad when the city told them that their cedar tree would have to come down because it was leaning and might fall into the street.
One day Bonnie’s neighbor, Kathryn Waters, was walking by, and Bonnie shared how upset she felt to be losing her favorite tree. Waters is a sculptor who does art projects with her husband, Paul, and they had an idea: They could turn the stump into a sculpture that would continue to watch over their street for many, many years.
So they worked out a plan and Kathryn and Paul got to work. They decided to add flowery ceramic mosaic pieces along the retaining wall. The whole project took four months, and something happened as they worked.
Neighbors walking by stopped to talk to them. Everyone seemed to take an interest in the sculpture project.
“We met many, many of our neighbors and found out how interesting they are,” Kathryn said. “It was delightful how much people wanted to engage.”
Kathryn is so glad they did it. In fact, she said she might do more public art projects for people who have stories to keep alive.
“It’s probably the most fun thing we’ve collaborated on,” she said. “It made us feel much more at home.”
Some think the sculpture is really Bonnie looking down the street, watching over her neighborhood. Bonnie doesn’t know about that, but she feels better knowing it is there in sentry position.
One of their neighbors, Phil Jones, said this would make a good story for the newspaper, so he wrote the NW Examiner and reached a friendly man who said, “Sure, we can do that.”