OneTree 2019

Following the success of oneTree 2015 and oneTree 2017, The Bateman Foundation and Live Edge Design are proud to present oneTree 2019. We invite you to join us in celebrating the life of a single tree through the beauty of art and connecting to nature through its incredible 200-year history. The oneTree series celebrates the life and value of a single tree by inviting participating artists to create as much beauty from its wood as possible.

This year is the biggest portfolio yet, with more than 80 individual and original works. Each is unique in its interpretation and style, with artworks varying dramatically in scale and design – from furniture to musical instruments, wooden creatures to performance-based art and poetry – with a unifying theme of honouring the tree’s remarkable heritage.

The Tree’s History Around 1815, an indigenous Big Leaf Maple tree began to grow in the Chemainus Valley, in the traditional territory of the Halalt First Nation. The river was full of steelhead, trapped in weirs to provide a rich food source to the inhabitants of the land. Chemainus was settled by Europeans starting in 1858 as a logging town, and by 1865 a house was built near the tree. At this point the oneTree was around 50 years old and touched the lives of great adventurers, naval heroes and after 200 years of bearing witness to the history of Vancouver Island, the tree’s life is now entrusted to our community to create new stories and memories. Please visit www.theonetreeproject.ca to find out more about the project.