Hillsborough is turning wood from a tree that fell during Florence into art

The largest tree in the town of Hillsborough was uprooted by Hurricane Florence, but the town isn't letting it go to waste. Instead, the wood is being donated to the Hillsborough Arts Council.

The Southern red oak fell across Calvin Street and caused power outages in downtown Hillsborough on Sept. 14.

“Instead of simply removing the tree and discarding the wood, the town wanted to find a way to distribute the useable material to students and artists in hopes that the life of this significant tree can live on in projects and artworks," Stephanie Trueblood, Hillsborough public space manager, said in a press release.

The tree had a trunk circumference of 27 feet and was estimated to be over 200 years old. It was one of the first trees that was recognized by the Hillsborough Tree Board’s Treasure Trees Program, which gives recognition to the preservation of significant trees in the local area.

The town was legally required to auction it or donate it to a government agency or nonprofit, despite numerous inquires from town citizens for the wood.

The town chose the ArtCycle program, a program of the Hillsborough Arts Council, to be in charge of the distribution of the wood. In the past, the program has worked closely with the town in collecting and distributing old and new art supplies to be used in local classrooms.

The council was founded with the intention of making the most use of local art supplies and has supported local arts education for about 30 years.

Neil Stutzer, founder and chairperson of ArtCycle, said he started the program a few years ago to reuse unwanted art supplies.

“It was during spring time, and there were a lot of people doing spring cleaning, and I started going around collecting people’s things and bringing it to the classrooms, and then I worked through Orange County school system to start this program,” Stutzer said.

The program also fills in gaps left by limited budgets in art classrooms. Trena Jones, an art teacher at Grady A. Brown Elementary School, said the program makes art supplies more accessible.

“It kind of offsets the costs and gives me opportunity to buy materials that I normally wouldn't be able to buy," Jones said. "It really helps to fill the need that we have in Hillsborough where the county isn’t able to fulfill for us financially.” 

Stutzer said that the program plans to call for a public art project that would allow the tree to live on in the community.

“We’re going to partner with the Orange County Arts Commission on getting a place for public art and also have it applied with the history of the tree," Stutzer said.

The wood will also be donated to woodworking classes as well as emerging artists and established artists in the area. Stutzer said the Art Council has a close relationship with emerging artists and displays their work.

The ArtCycle program plans to showcase the eventual artworks that will come from the donated wood at upcoming events, Stutzer said.

“The criteria will be that the artwork from the woods is documented on what they are doing, how they are doing it, and will become part of the history of the red oak," he said.

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