by Margot McMahon (Author), Tess Landon (Photographer)
Margot McMahon received the
2019 Mate E. Palmer First Place Service Award
2020 First Place Book Award
from The Illinois Women's Press Association
for her contributions to the
Chicago Tree Project.
Margot McMahon Statement
The Chicago Tree Project celebrated its fifth season with fifty sculpted trees in over thirty miles of Chicago Parks. Neighbors embrace the public art statements while mourning the loss of mature tree canopies. Sculpting dead trees gives them a fifth season by harboring food and shelter for wildlife. From grave to cradle, the Chicago Tree Project will teach young tree-tenders of all ages how to care for the millions of saplings being planted to replace our lost canopy. Sculpting grand condemned trees with artistic statements, caring for replacement young plantlets, and showing that carbon is choking both young and old is our mission. Warming temperatures and more volatile weather stress trees making it more difficult for saplings to thrive.