Nature Unframed: Art at the Arboretum

Photograph: Jimshoe, Juan Chavez 

The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, a world-renowned leader in tree science and education working to save and plant trees, recently collaborated with 11 local, national, and international artists to create 11 striking site-specific works. The exhibition, Nature Unframed: Art at the Arboretum, was curated by local artist Anna Kunz and highlights trees’ vulnerability and intrinsic value, as well as facilitates viewer exploration of their own emotional connections to trees and the art.

Chicago artist Juan Angel Chavez created “Jimshoe” as a “comment and an observation of nature, as it overcomes modernity” using ingenuity to survive. His piece features a series of abstract forms surrounding a tree trunk and branches. Local anonymous collective You Are Beautiful installed a series of 4-foot by 8-foot letters spelling out “You Are Beautiful,” and Chicago “transplant” Joan Giroux created a (out)looking, (re)framing—a keleidescope that allows viewers to transform their perspective of the natural world. Nature Unframed debuted in May and runs through November 27 at The Morton Arboretum, a 1,700-acre outdoor museum featuring magnificent collections of 4,128 kinds of trees, shrubs, and other plants from around the world. The project was made possible through the generous support of our sponsors: Harris Bank and Sara Lee Foundation, contributing sponsors of Nature Unframed: Art at the Arboretum; and the Lisle Convention and Visitors Bureau, the featured hotel sponsor.

Contributor: Anamari Dorgan, Morton Arboretum