Free tree adoptions kick off in January

Members of the Tulane community will have the opportunity to adopt a fruit tree, free of charge, as part of the The Endless Orchard project with artists Fallen Fruit beginning in January.

The tree adoption at Tulane is just one aspect of “Fallen Fruit of New Orleans,” a suite of site-specific projects taking place throughout New Orleans from June 2017 through June 2018, commissioned and presented by Newcomb Art Museum, A Studio in the Woods and Pelican Bomb.

The citywide project is designed to provide neighborhoods with a shared resource of free fruit and is intended to create a space for collaboration and conversation. The project includes planting a network of public fruit trees along the Bayou Bienvenue Wetland Triangle, throughout the Lower 9th Ward, Pontchartrain Park and in the surrounding Gentilly neighborhood.

“New Orleans is ripe for Fallen Fruit,” said Ama Rogan, managing director of A Studio in the Woods. “We can’t think of a better tricentennial gift to the city than 300 trees which in turn give fruit for all of us to share.”

By adopting a tree you can become a partner in the largest and most generous collaborative public artwork in the world – a real living fruit orchard planted by the public, for the public. As a collaborator you agree to take care of your tree and plant it where it can partially hang over a sidewalk or public thoroughfare, making it accessible to passersby. All trees planted during the project will be added to the online map platform for The Endless Orchard, which currently maps over 800 public fruit trees across the United States.

“Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could just walk outside your door and grab an apple instead of going to the grocery store,” said artist David Burns. “Over time the trees will become well-picked and openly used by residents and passersby — a living symbol of sharing, and a communal public resource.”

Fruit trees available for adoption are provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Those who would like to adopt a tree can sign up here. Trees will be available for pick up in front of the Newcomb Art Museum in January.  

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