Pittsburgh Tree Plantings

Staking A Claim For
Our Pittsburgh Forest

The past couple weeks my nephew James Sichak and I volunteered with a number of local groups to help reforest our Urban environment with trees to enhance our communities.
We helped the Wilkinsburg Shade Tree Commission relocate 23 trees from a community nursery to homes throughout their neighborhoods a couple weeks ago.


We turned out with a number of community groups including East Liberty Development, and Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest(FPUF) and about a hundred volunteers from various community organizations in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh to plant trees on East Liberty Boulevard.



Then, this past weekend for Earth Day we joined again with FPUF and this time we worked together with Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Tree Vitalize, and Friends of The Waterfront . Our gratitude and humble thanks to corporate Sponsor Keen Shoes and the around 300 volunteers helping with planting trees along the South Side Trail bike trail. People were planting trees, perennials and bulbs along sections of the trail. There were over a 115 native trees planted today just along the trail... from river birches to American elms, magnolias to oaks... we planted trees! FPUF had two other plantings coinciding this planting, in the Morningside and Lawrenceville neighborhoods today as well. Awesome work FPUF!!
We had the tremendous opportunity at Urban Tree Forge to work with a a few of our community groups to provide tree stakes for their planting endeavors. This year we decided to take the opportunity to stencil our web address onto our stakes so we can get the word out about our efforts to utilize our local tree removals for projects and people within our urban setting. We were fortunate to be afforded the opportunity to provide tree stakes for Wilkinsburg borough tree plantings, for the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, and for Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
Some of our stakes were used for the tree plantings in the Lawrenceville and the Morningside neighborhoods, and for the East Liberty plantings a couple weeks back. Thank you for the opportunity to make a difference in our great city everyone...

March happenings

What a busy month!!

I just have to start off with the great little mention we got this week in the Pittsburgh's awesome POP City e-magazine in an article about the Childrens Museum's "Exploring Trees" exhibit. We will be back at the Childrens Museum this April 9th and 10th to demonstrate some more possibilities for our urban trees... hope to see you there!

Around the studio

Olof Berner has been busy creating some new pieces, working on some beautiful jewelry ideas from our tree stake off cuts, cutting boards, and some other new offerings for our local marketplace.


Jason Boone has been working on a new sculpture and candlesticks made from our tree stake off cuts we have from Tree Vitalize projects with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in the Pittsburgh area. It's great to see the tree stake materials getting used for even more new ideas!





Jennifer Bechak has been busy trying out our new Oxy-acetylene torch set back in the metal shop area of the Forge and working on creating some new ideas.


Nate Lucas is working on a coffee table that is a beautiful mix of some reclaimed oak and another wood I'm uncertain of at the moment and inlaid with some pretty ebony pin striping.


I created a sculpture this month myself, "Confused Elegance" for the upcoming Persad auction this May. I created this sculpture from a section of an oak tree from the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh.

We've also been busy acquiring new materials to offer our artists in residence and for our clients. Lumberjack Tree Service dropped off a large section of oak for us from our city's Riverview park, which we will be using partially for some new tables for the new Carnegie Library on the Northside of Pittsburgh. We have also cut into a beautiful section of sycamore tree we recovered from storm damage from our Squirrel Hill neighborhood... and have come away with some beautiful pieces from this tree. We harvested a whole truck load of root burls from an elm tree in the Homewood cemetery that look just amazing. Anybody interested in creating or having something created from one of the beautiful sections of our local trees should give us a call or drop us an email to explore the tremendous possibilities further...

Friends.... and Friends friends

I was talking with a friend last week, who asked me what I had been up to lately, sooo... I told her about the wonderful opportunity I had received to convert some urban trees into flooring for Friends of the Urban Forest. I told her about their Floor Raiser Drive, which has been established to help them raise the necessary funds needed to install the floor... "Friends" is a great asset to our region, not only are they dedicated to restoring and protecting the urban forest, but they're also inspiring and engaging citizens to maintain, plant and protect trees with their Tree Tender program!!

I then began telling her about Tree Vitalize, and the tree stakes that I was making with Rich Haviland the sawyer... when she interrupted me with a

"nooooooo... What have you been working on...?"

Ohhh, I nodded... "working on"...

So, I started telling her all about a new initiative that I was exploring with Wilkinsburg Borough to help them establish their own municipal tree utilization program...

I mentioned that I was working on possibilities for Allegheny Commons on their restoration project, which includes the removal of over 30 ailing trees, along with a ground breaking for the new Carnegie Library, all in the same neighborhood... and, how we're developing plans to promote awareness and unification between the north side and the local design firms, so that they can see how using their own local resources can be beneficial for the environment and the community...

And, lastly, I started talking about the Cemetery Gates project... how we've been able to gather 10–15 artists together to do a show... and how each artist will be incorporating pieces of wood from the Allegheny Cemetery to demonstrate the range of creative possibilities for using the urban forest materials... I told her that we just received a very nice write up about it in the newest Tech Vibe newsletter...


My friend interrupted, again with "Noooo.... not that... what have you been making, working on, creating... Haven't you been creating anything?"


She continued, "Not that I don't care, but I don't want to know about that other stuff... I want to know about YOU... you know... what are you sculpting?"

Well, I began... the Cemetery Gates project is a sculpture show as well as a part of a fund raising event for Friends of the Urban Forest, so I will also be contributing a sculpture of my own...
I have a table that I'm creating from an arborvitae that I found on Penn Avenue, while looking at properties; Then there's Moon Willow Point... a sculpture and bed, which is currently in the drying stage; there's Touched... a sculpture for my brother's family that will be done any day now; and Trinity... a dogwood from Trinity Cathedral; there's some Ohio river drift wood; and finally, Mr. Appleseed... an apple tree that fell in the Regent Square neighborhood.

After my lengthy story, she said, "Well then, you haven't forgotten to keep creating... that's so wonderful!"

I replied, "We are trying to "create" awareness about the amazing diversity of products that we can create from our urban forest ... I have new trees and materials available all the time... maple, elm, oaks, cedars, and sycamore... all of them crying out to have a future other than a dump site or fireplace. Wouldn't you like a piece of furniture, or perhaps a sculpture, for your home or office?

She smiled, and then said, "Show me some possibilities..."

Urban Trees become .... Urban Trees

The Spruce is Loose

No More!!

Now playing a supporting role in the epic "Urban Forest of Pittsburgh", the "Spruces of Moon"!
The spruces will be playing the role of "Stakes" this fall In a production being collaborated by the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania DCNR, Tree Vitalize and Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. "Stakes" role will be supporting 750 new young trees all hoping themselves to play a role in the next generation of the "Urban Forest of Pittsburgh"

Please help our trees become a part of Pittsburgh by making them a part of your next project...

Know Trees... know Life
No Trees ... No Life