Urban Forest Project

The Urban Forest Project is a unique public arts initiative, which invited local artists and designers to employ the idea or form of the tree to make a powerful visual statement on street-banners that were then displayed in their community. The tree is a metaphor for sustainability and in that spirit, the banners at the close of each exhibition were recycled into totebags and auctioned off to raise money for a local environmental cause.

Worldstudio conceived the project in partnership with Times Square Alliance and the New York Chapter of AIGA. Worldstudio managed future iterations of the project with local partners.

The Urban Forest Project was used as a marketing platform by nine cities to support their urban forestry and environmental efforts, among them: Albuquerque, Baltimore, Denver, Portland, Tacoma, New York, Toledo and Washington, DC.

In New York City, 185 artists and designers from 21 countries participated in the program.

Banners by Goodesign and Rodrigo Corral in New York.

A banner, designed by Rob Alexander and displayed in New York’s Times Square was repurposed into a tote bag at the close of the exhibition.

In New York, the bags were designed and manufactured by the accessories company Jack Spade. In each location, local resources were used to create the bags.

Each city leveraged the project in different ways. In addition to the city-wide effort featuring 50 artists and designers, a custom program for the Albuquerque school district was produced. Student banners were on display at the Albuquerque Zoo.

A mentoring program for 35 high school students was completed with designers from the San Francisco chapter of AIGA.

A reception at the American Visionary Art Museum celebrates the Baltimore project.

Poster-sized brochures featured the banners in each city with a map showing their locations.

In each location, the project garnered visibility in the press.