Best Onondaga County Trees Photo Challenge - June 2014

Clare Willson - Cemetery in Dewitt, NY

This year, I received the Individual Artist Commission Grant from the CNY Arts 2014 Decentralization Program to engage Onondaga County residents in an interactive art project that promotes nature appreciation and community involvement in artistic creation. 

The Best Onondaga Tree Photo Challenge is the first part of this art project. My goal is to emotionally engage the community by asking Onondaga County residents to go into nature, find the most beautiful trees in our county, and send their suggestions to me with a photo.

I select eight trees from those sent to me and I paint them in acrylic on canvas. 

This deadline is October 31, 2014.

Evey month, I pick one winning photo that I recreate on canvas. During the process, I visually document the different stages of my work in progress, and I post the development of my body of work through social media.

Below you will see the most recent photos of trees submitted to me, and tonight at 6 p.m. I will announce June's winning photo!

Below, Dan Elsbey captured many angles of a unique, old tree located in Camillus, NY.

Ross Getman found a lot of  tree texture and colors at the Beaver Lake park.

Thomas Howard is a member of the Native Tree Society, one of the world’s leading Internet tree study groups. In the body of the email he sent me for the photo challenge he wrote some interesting facts about some of the trees in Onondaga county:

"In the northern suburbs stand some of the county’s greatest trees and old growth forests. In North Syracuse where I live are 2 rare old growth oak groves, with oaks over 200 years old, and 110 feet tall. One of these groves is named the Wizard of Oz Memorial Oak Grove as it is a likely inspiration for L. Frank Baum’s Great Forest of Oz; Baum grew up nearby in what is now Mattydale, and he knew the owner of the grove. The other oak grove, the North Syracuse Cemetery Oak Grove, is an utterly primeval stand of ancient oaks east of North Syracuse Cemetery on South Bay Rd.

Another old growth site, the Liverpool School Maple Grove, is near Liverpool High School, and contains what are most likely the tallest (up to 127 feet) and oldest trees in northern Onondaga County. The largest tree in the grove is a Sugar Maple 54 in. dbh (diameter at breast height or 4.5 feet above the ground, a standard forestry measure) and nearly 120 feet tall. This tree could be close to 400 years old; it may be the only surviving Military Tract Survey Witness Tree in NY. Military Tract lots were surveyed for Revolutionary War veterans around 1790, in an effort to encourage settlement in this area. A Witness Tree was marked by a surveyor with an ax – the scarred tree would mark a lot line boundary. There was a Military Tract Witness Tree, a Sugar Maple, on this spot, and this great old tree still bears what appear to be the scars made long ago by the surveyor. It is a healthy tree and has leafed out this spring. It is also the largest Sugar Maple I know of in Onondaga County.

I am submitting 3 photos of this great old Sugar Maple for your consideration. Please find these photos as attachments.The first 3 photos are of the Sugar Maple.

I am also submitting 1 photo of the largest tree in the Wizard of Oz Memorial Oak Grove near North Syracuse Junior High School, the L. Frank Baum Northern Red Oak, 49 in. dbh, over 117 feet tall, and over 140 years old."

Pamula Picciano sent photos of this very old sugar maple tree located in Tully, NY, that still faithfully offers maple syrup every year. Did you know that the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is  the official tree of New York State?

Photographer,  Heidi Vantassel took some breathtaking pictures of a Magnolia tree in Manlius, NY and created some visually interesting black and white photos of trees in Pompey, NY. Check out her website at http://heidivantasselphotography.com/

If you want to participate in this challenge, I am always looking forward to see more photo submissions of the very best trees of Onondaga County! Email your photos to me at mariarizzoart@gmail.com with your name and the location of your tree subject. Good Luck!