Art in the Trees
Palmer Park
Detroit, Mich.
April 27, 2025
Sunshine, blue skies and vibrant green trees created a perfect atmosphere for Art in the Trees Sunday in Detroit’s Palmer Park. The event was part of the park’s annual Earth Day celebration and featured a series of sculptures and other art placed along a loop trail in the park’s old growth woods. The artists themselves had displays next to their work, as they chatted with visitors and sold their wares.
A lot of the art featured natural themes that harmonized with the scenery. Others were more playful, and one explicitly political. Guitar-playing troubadours and one saxophonist played throughout, adding light background music to the experience.
At the beginning of the loop, Blossoms of Royal Oak’s “Graff the Graffiti Dino” – a large dinosaur made of silver duct tape — stood among flowers and invited visitors to leave their mark.
Down the path, Camp 3 Woodworks offered an array of hand-carved wooden objects, ranging from toadstools, books and small household items, with one of their artists carving live nearby.
With a similar embrace of the natural surroundings, artist James Rodriguez sat painting a landscape, surrounded by his other paintings of the natural world hanging from trees nearby with a Henry David Thoreau-type vibe.
On the more whimsical side, artist Dale Teachout offered a pair of quirky, (sort of) anatomically correct human statues made of thrifted objects, like stuffed animals, pipes, mopheads, wheels and more. Nearby, Larry Tremaine’s animatronic “Karza, Queen of the Fire Dragons” gave court inside her lair, inviting visitors to stick their heads in her foam mouth.
On a more serious note, Mike Willenborg and Uta Brauser’s “Tesla Mortal Coil” took aim at Trump advisor Elon Musk. The work was a tall abstract statue of inventor Nikola Tesla, for whom Musk’s electric car company is named. Tesla’s face was painted on a ball at the top from which lightning-like branches protruded downward, zapping miniatures of the White House and a Tesla Cybertruck.
One of my favorite artists was Kelly O’Neill, whose work included a series of abstract female figure sculptures made of swirling metal and stained glass. O’Neill said the swirls were meant as protective armor, especially for women. A particularly swirly piece on the end featured turquoise metal molded into two circles of different heights, representing the heads of a mother and child, which exuded a sweet femininity and sense of maternal love.
The experience was joyous, calming and a great way to combine love of nature and love of art while enjoying a lovely spring day.
