Civic Center TreeThe Civic Center Tree grew out of a relationship between the Olivette police chief and myself. The community had passed a bond issue to build a new Civic Center. The police chief had been a presence in the school for years and had seen the work the students had done to beautify our space. He asked if we could create a community piece unifying city workers, administrators, students, families and community members. The tree was already a city symbol and an obvious image to illustrate. We organized a week-long activity in the classroom with firefighters, police, administrators, and city workers to work alongside the students creating the "leaves" for our tree. Each leaf would represent themself or their connection to the community. We had two community days where the school was open to the public to come and create. All the leaves were fired and installed by myself and volunteers. The piece was a huge success and created a wonderful connection among the many layers of the Olivette community. The installation resides at 1140 Dielman Road, St. Louis, MO 63132, please go visit it is even better in person.