Downtown Interactive Art Piece Celebrates Maternal Lineage

It didn’t take long for San Rafael community members to catch on to the concept of “The Mothering Tree,” an art installation that was unveiled on May 4 and will be on display through Sunday, May 12.

At the tree, made of various branches, participants can write on a colored rice paper tag and attach it a branch.

Participants can write the names of as many maternal ancestors as they can name or they could also write (or draw) a note to a female ancestor they have never had a chance to meet.

Some younger writers appeared to have write messages about their mothers. One paper read “I love you more than words can tell” while another read “I love her even though I am grounded.”

Final visiting hours for the tree will Saturday, May 11, and Sunday, May 12, from noon to 5 p.m.

The Downtown San Rafael Business Improvement District partnered with Shelly Jackson, an independent public program producer, to create the project.

The Fortnight Collective, a group of five San Rafael female artists, who are all mothers, created the installation.

Carol Thompson, director of the Downtown San Rafael Business Improvement District, said the tree has been well received. “Every time I’ve passed it, I’ve seen people writing on leaves and hanging them,” she told Patch. 

The Mothering Tree was inspired by Yoko Ono’s wish trees, which are part of the Imagine Peace Project. At the “wish trees,” visitors are asked to tie wishes to the branches of hundreds of trees installed in cities around the world.

“We wanted to draw on the inspiration of the wish tree and take it a step further. The Mothering Tree offers an opportunity for the community to come together and participate, create, and co-produce art, while honoring our lineage and our collective bond with our mothers and strong women who have come before us,” said project co-founder Jackson in a press release. 

 

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