The banners finally came down today! After an amazing and touching Saturday evening reception at the Maryland Institute College of Art we made our gracious exit from the banners of Baltimore: The Urban Forest Project to the TreeBaltimore’s campaign to plant trees. The banners came down last week and were placed from basement to sky in the Brown Center.
The outside of the Brown Center getting prepped for the evenings festivities
We had installations from each of the events and have two wonderful speakers; Tom Stosur, Assistant Deputy Mayor and Wanda Durden, the new acting Director for Department of Recreation and Parks. We were presented with a beautiful plaque on behalf of the city written by our dear friends Anne Draddy, the Jones Falls Watershed Association and Emily Ellickson-Brown, the Community Outreach Coordinator for the Department of Recreation and Parks.
It was a night to remember. While a bit windy, the weather held and the light generously spilled out into the Leidy Atrium, covering the room with warmth… we were all amongst friends. Those who love Baltimore City, those who love the arts and those who truly want to make a difference in our world came from all over the country to be at our event. We are so honored to have been surrounded by such a great mix of people!
An overview of the Atrium
We are almost sold out of our banners! There are another 30 banners left, which is an incredible feat, but the rest are going fast! Visit the remaining banners online at our store and purchase all custom orders before July 7th! That is just one week from today!
So, you can see… it is almost the beginning. TreeBaltimore is taking root in Baltimore and is here to stay! SUPPORT THEM as much as you can (money, time, effort, spreading the word, etc.)
A special thank you to:
-Baltimore City Mayor’s Office for the incredible opportunity to have this project and recognition for our efforts
-Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks for assisting with coordination from start to finish and helping to volunteer at the event
-Baltimore City Department of Transportation, Street Lighting Division for assisting us with the entire project and the exhibition put up and take down
-Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts for ensuring that we had all of our t’s crossed and our i’s dotted -Serigraphics for printing the banners and the t-shirts and pushing through the bag design with us to make this a success! Thank you for your endless hours!
-Designers, artists and K-12 students for their amazing talent and innate ability to be creative. Keep it up!
-Sponsors for helping to assist us with making this project possible.
-All of our volunteers that have helped at all of our events
-Our parents and team for their endless amount of effort and time put into making this project a success. We are forever grateful.
And a thank you for Saturday evening:
-Maryland Institute College of Art for lending us a space and assisting us with the exhibition put up and take down and event coordination
-Parkhurst Dining Services for the delicious food and alcohol serving
-AIGA Baltimore for sponsoring a table during the event and being such a great support at the end
-Lady G’s for local organic wine and beer
-Doug Retzler for photography coverage
-Scott Wilburn and Kris Vandevander for their amazing sound equipment and music
And the most special thank you of all: Thank you to our very own TreeBaltimore for having a message that we could get behind and help to support. We look forward to the results for years to come!
And it has started… the Gensler installation has taken over Patterson. Literally taking the meaning of tree canopy to a new level, Gensler has created an installation that has furthered the mission of Baltimore: Urban Forest Project. They have brung together 3 unique elements: Burlap (symbolizing the tree canopy), Stakes (symbolizing the shaft of a tree) and sod (symbolizing the root of a tree). The entire park has been transformed into a living, breathing exhibition. Rooted in the center of the park where the Saturday event will take place, there are “points” from each corner of the park that draw the community into the event space below the boat basin lake.
Thank you to the amazing volunteers who have been integral in the success of this installation.
The installation has already started taking shape, so feel free to go out and take a look. Make sure you come out this weekend and play! 12-4pm on Saturday, May 10th!
Check out the photos below for a sneak peak at the installation in progress!
Hi all–Danny here! Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came out in support on Saturday April 12th at Hopkins! It was a great, relaxed event. Check out some of the shots here below of our Create Change Tree and the crowd! Don’t forget to visit the events page to learn about all the events surround the Urban Forest Project. And since the weather has been great, its a perfect time to take a drive around the city and see what we’ve been up to!
Hi all you greener cleaner city lovers! Denise here to tell you we had our fundraising party for TreeBaltimore at AVAM Wednesday night (April 2nd) and it was amazing! We heard from these great speakers:
Tom Stosur, Assistant Deputy Mayor of Baltimore, who was impressed with the Urban Forest Project’s collaborative success and it’s relevance to the Mayor’s new Sustainability commission’s efforts Mark Randall, the founder of the original Urban Forest Project in NYC shared his excitement at how we took his seed of an idea and grew it into a tree via our community stewardship approach Myra Brosius the coordinator of Tree Baltimore (beneficiary of the Urban Forest Project) talked about our success raising awareness for their campaign Maryland State Delegate Jon Cardin spoke about the value of our initiative and its relationship to Baltimore and Maryland leading the nation as a green state
A HUGE thank-you for the generosity of our sponsors whose donations made the evening wildly successful! Please click here to the “Plant Our City Green” party page to see all these amazing businesses and let them know how much you appreciate their support of this great initiative.
A great shot of the crowd and the digital banner display:
Click here to check out the photos of the event, taken by Emily Ellickson-Brown!
NEXT is “GROW” on April 12th!!! The Opening Exhibition for Baltimore: The Urban Forest Project takes place on the Johns Hopkins University Beach (corner of 33rd and N. Charles) from 12 - 6 pm! Please click here to learn more about this kick-off event!
I wanted to share that the banners are going up steadily all over the city! Right now you can see a selection of the banners along Mt. Royal Avenue near MICA’s Campus, and also up Charles Street near Johns Hopkins Campus and Wyman Park Dell. Here are a few images of the banners on Charles street! Enjoy! Do you want to get an exclusive look at all the banners, enjoy some great food & drink, and bid on some amazing silent auction items? RSVP TODAY for our April 2nd Gala at the American Visionary Art Museum.
Hello all! Danny here. So last night we hung the first banner and had a little banner preview reception. Despite the weather and traffic, we managed to kick off The Urban Forest Project! Check out these photos by Zoe Draddy of the event!
Diana Cohen’s Banner ready to go up!
A close-up!
Rachael leans out to secure the banner on the pole
DDGgreen’s banners at Skylofts
A few more banners on display upstairs
I would like to thank everyone who came out in support last night and who continue to support us in this endeavor! Want to get involved at our next event? RSVP today for our preview Gala on April 2nd!
Baltimore: The Urban Forest Project at ECOFEST Druid Hill K-12 banners and Labrynth
Location: Druid Hill Park by the Reservoir
Date: Saturday, April 26th (raindate – Sunday April 27th)
Time: 11am – 5pm
More Information
Celebrate Sustainable Living with Food, Music, Information and Fun for the Family and Everyone!
Baltimore Green Week kicks off with an EcoFestival, April 26th, 2008, as a celebration of our regional environment. Attendees will find fun family events and resources that promote sustainable living. Held in Druid Hill Park, near the Woodberry light rail stop, bus lines and Jones Falls trail, the EcoFestival will include workshops, demonstrations, vendors with sustainable products, healthy food, music and art.
Most of all, serve as Baltimore’s Premier Green Event –fun and educational!
Stop by Tilt Studio Foundation’s Booth and learn more about the Urban Forest Project and take the Create Change Challenge.
Please join us on Wednesday, April 2 from 7p to 10p at AVAM’s Sculpture Barn. Tickets are $45 online in advance and $55 at the door – all proceeds benefit TreeBaltimore. The theme is “Plant our City Green!” This party will elegantly celebrate the sustainable life – nature and people alike. Enjoy live music, scrumptious appetizers, delicious drinks and an eco-inspired silent auction. Guests will be able to bid on green lifestyle products and experiences that nurture our bodies and minds, like renewing spa moments and amazing restaurant meals. In addition, guests are automatically entered in a raffle that evening, and we will announce one Grand Prize winner (concept and contents still being developed)! We have several speakers scheduled: Senator Cardin, Mark Randall (Urban Forest Project founder) and city representatives (TBD).
We sat down with Jenn Tucker to talk about her banner and her recent assimilation to the Baltimore community. Click to check out her company, Cafeteria.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this week long blog blast! We at Tilt really enjoyed learning more about just a few of the designers and artists who participated! So remember, the exhibition opens April 11, 2008 and runs until June 27. The banners will be up throughout the city, and maps will be available at several locations throughout the city for you to follow!
And now for the prize winners!
Garrett Ohm: UFP Promo-Tshirt
Holly K: A custom painted tile by Jessica Pegorsch
Marybeth Morgan: Full set of banner buttons
Chad Miller: 3 tons of Carbon Offset certificates
Congratulations everyone! Don’t miss our Plant our City Green party on April 2nd. You will be able to register online soon enough. Its going to be a great event and will hopefully raise a lot of money for TreeBaltimore, our beneficiary. For more info on the event, see our Events page.
Danny here! Greetings from the snowy slopes in Whitetail resort in PA. We here at Tilt are on retreat for the next few days and hitting the trails together. Fortunately, I can post blogs on the fly!
We sat down with Fastspot to talk about their totally unique online design application encouraging community involvement in Baltimore: The Urban Forest Project.