Art in Odd Places (AiOP) is an annual public arts festival in New York City presenting artwork in all disciplines. For the 2024 festival, the AiOP open call invited artists to imagine how to create spaces and actions of compassionate fearless care.

Tree Loving Care (TLC) was conceived of and developed by Laura Nova, Michele Kahane, and Sara Koller in response to AiOP’s prompt. They were joined by students at the Parsons School of Design Strategies who co-created and performed in this collaborative work. By blending their expertise in art, design, movement, and education, TLC brought attention to the innate relationship between the humans and street trees in New York City. Street trees provide oxygen, shade, habitat yet are mostly isolated in tree pits and disregarded or even abused by passers-by.

TLC participants performed by trees along 14th street, incorporating the embodiment of tree movements and trash picking to create a spontaneous and meditative movement piece. Passers-by were invited to write words of thanks to the trees on strips of cyanotype fabric, these were then tied around the trunks as offerings.