For 20 years I have been researching champion trees in each state and planning trips to visit them — photographing, sketching, and then bringing them back into the studio to create portraits. But as I traveled, I realized something important: extraordinary trees are not rare. They are everywhere. In cities. On sidewalks. In parks, yards, cemeteries, even off highway ramps. They are part of the fabric of our daily lives.
And nowhere is that more evident than here in Dallas.
We know scientifically that trees sustain us — filtering pollutants, reducing heat islands, managing stormwater, lowering carbon dioxide, providing habitat, improving mental health. But beyond their utility, they are witnesses. They mark time. They outlive us. They hold memory.
When I moved to Dallas, I wanted to pay tribute to the love of trees I found here. That intention was confirmed my very first week in my new neighborhood, when I came across a plaque on the sidewalk that read: “Trees Are the Answer.” It was a quote from Trammell Crow. I knew I was on the right track!
When I researched him, I discovered he was a passionate advocate for urban forestry — co-founding the Dallas Parks Foundation, now the Texas Trees Foundation, and establishing the National Tree Trust. His commitment to preserving and expanding green spaces in urban areas felt visionary — and deeply aligned with what I was beginning to explore.
The goal of this exhibition became clear: to create a visual and narrative map of Dallas through its trees — each one a living witness to the stories of this place and its people.
In a city where growth is rapid and land is constantly renegotiated, these trees act as living archives. They have stood through change. They have endured. The exhibition asks what it means to slow down, to look closely, and to consider how we live alongside non-human lives that have been here longer than we have.
What began as a community effort — and I received many wonderful nominations for favorite trees — became something quieter and more intimate. Each tree I visited became a kind of communion. As I drove for hours and hours around the city they would call to me, and I would stop. There was always something particular about each tree that made me want to spend more time with them.