Public art project to create ‘Endless Orchard’

Members of the UB community can help plant an urban orchard by taking part in “Endless Orchard,” a living, public art project commissioned by the UB Art Galleries that is taking place May 6 in the Fruit Belt neighborhood of Buffalo.

Through this partnership with UB, the Los Angeles-based art collective Fallen Fruit will plant fruit trees at Locust Street Art, 138 Locust St., and throughout the Fruit Belt as part of “Wanderlust: Actions, Traces, Journeys 1967-2017,” an exhibition taking place at the UB Art Galleries in September.

The “Endless Orchard” is a real, living fruit orchard planted by the public, for the public – which Fallen Fruit describes as “a movement of citizens transforming their own neighborhoods.”

“Fruit is a transcultural symbol of sharing, and the ‘Endless Orchard’ is a living public artwork that anyone can eat from,” the collective says.  

Rachel Adams, senior curator of exhibitions for the UB Art Galleries, says volunteers are needed to help members of Fallen Fruit plant apple, pear, quince, peach and cherry trees, along with blueberry bushes, in the Fruit Belt neighborhood adjacent to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

These varieties of fruit trees are being sourced from regional growers specializing in the varieties that were brought to Western New York by the European immigrants who settled in the area in the early 19th century, Adams says. Every tree will be tagged with its variety, type and the time of year for ripeness. Trees will be planted in front of homes and businesses, around public and private spaces, and in municipal spaces like community gardens. 

The trees will create a walking trail connecting Locust Street Art with neighbors and local businesses, churches and institutions “in the spirit of generosity and communal sharing,” Adams says, adding that signs placed at each tree will enforce the concept “that this public fruit park is for everyone and it is for sharing.”

Volunteers who would like to take part in the “Endless Orchard” — there is no cost to participate — can contact Adams via email. The event takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., beginning at Locust Street Art.

Adams explains how the “Endless Orchard” project ties in with the upcoming “Wanderlust” exhibition.

“Wanderlust is about artists departing their studio to make works outside. Sometimes those works are solitary, sometimes they have an audience and other times they are participatory,” she says.

“I’ve wanted to work with Fallen Fruit for a long time, and it seemed to be the perfect match to bring them to Buffalo and into the Fruit Belt to work with the neighborhood to bring fruit back to the Fruit Belt.”

Fallen Fruit also will have work featured in the “Wanderlust” exhibition, Adams adds.

Fallen Fruit is an art collaboration, originally conceived in 2004, that uses fruit as a common denominator to change the way we see the world. It began by mapping fruit trees growing on or over public property in Los Angeles, and has expanded to include serialized public projects and site-specific installations and happenings in various cities around the world.