Chara, a rustic furniture artist, loves the asymmetrical lines of tree limbs, so she gave her bench a multitude of legs made from yew branches collected from the side of the road. She made the sculpted and chiseled seat from the campus tree.

MAPLE AND YEW 22D X 72W X 18H

– Chara Dow, East Rochester, N.Y.

Photo: Danny Cocuzza

From Fine Woodworking #285

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Artists give campus trees a new life

When some beautiful old trees were removed to make way for a community garden at SUNY Brockport, Professor Jason Dauenhauer reached out to the campus-wide Art Placement Committee, chaired by Professor Jennifer Hecker. Together, they got a grant to commission artists to turn lumber from the trees into benches, to be installed across the upstate New York campus. Some 20 artists submitted proposals for the benches, and seven benches were chosen. To see more on the project, check out Gallery: Campus trees get new life.

Launch Gallery