Community Tree

The Community Tree at The Cottage Collective is a collaborative mural by people in our community. My teammates and I painted the trunk and branches of the tree a few weeks before a special event near The Cottage Collective.  At the event, we invited people to come over and become a part of this mural and feel connected even if this was their first time visiting! Every visitor helped decorate the tree by putting their handprints on the ree mural as leaves. We had some really fun moments including two babies, multicolored "leaves", and some messy kids too! All in all, everyone enjoyed putting their handprints up! 

About Colorado's Trees

In total, Colorado has about 24 million acres of forests and woodlands; mostly in the western part of the state. There are about 500 tree species in Colorado of which 50 are native.  Colorado is a very diverse state, giving way to a lot of different vegetation! The tree at The Cottage Collective looks a lot like a Gambel oak tree, even though we didn't reference it at first. The Colorado state tree is the Blue Spruce. It was decided in 1939 by a school chosen by the Colorado General Assembly. Fun fact: the Blue Spruce can live up to 600 years!

What Trees Can Symbolize

At the time we were deciding on what to paint, I didn't really know much about trees in general and what they symbolize. It turns out they mean a lot! From connecting mythological heavens and earths to growth, fertility, and strength. The first symbolic tree recorded in our history comes from ancient Mesopotamian and Assyrian art. While archeologists do not know 100% what it was called or what it meant, but they presumed it was a Tree of Life; symbolizing fertility and possibly immortality. This picture suggests being from the 1st millennium BCE. Another good example is Yggdrasil; an absolutely massive tree that settles in the center of all nine realms in Norse mythology. Trees in Indian folklore have somletimes represented meeting places where the whole tribe of differnet tribes have met.

When planning out what we would paint to help spruce up The Cottage Collective, we wanted something that the whole community could join in on. When I looked online for inspiration, I really liked the tree with people's handprints. It would be friendly, it would be safe, and it would be fun! We also found that nature, in general, is a calming beacon for some people. As mentioned earlier, trees are a symbol of strength; meaning that our community and all communities are stronger when we unite. Trees are also a symbol of connection, and this mural and many others did bring people together.