Franconia Forest

Franconia Forest evolves a pre-existing Miyawaki forest planted at Franconia Sculpture Park in 2016. The project was a collaboration between Forest Maker, Ethan Bryson, and Chinese artist Lu Xu. In bringing together large-scale metal sculpture - line drawings in space - with the planting of a native forest, the project was a meditation on how we can reconcile our urban and technological future with environmental concerns and an appreciation of our heritage.

Franconia Forest will see this dialogue between art and nature continue with the planting of a second indigenous forest in collaboration with the artist, Stephanie Lindquist.

Lindquist’s practice draws on the knowledge systems and traditions of indigenous peoples that provide insight to our modern challenges around sustainability and have been overlooked by western culture.  In Ethan and Stephanie working together with nature and art, the hope is that these indigenous voices and teachings can be heard, shared and cherished. Indeed, Franconia Sculpture Park resides on the ancestral Dakota lands of the Wahpekute in Mni Sota Makoce, and in so being is an organisation committed to integrating these voices into the projects that take place.

Franconia Forest will be a further boost to biodiversity in the locality, and demonstrate how ecosystem restoration can work in harmony with large-scale public sculpture, as well as bringing communities together. The result is a highly educational and reflective experience: Franconia Forest will call upon visitors to consider their role as stewards of our world, responsible for how we build our homes, our neighborhoods, how we interact with others and how we lead our lives.