Barton Institute
for
Community
Action Planters
Back in early September, 2025, had the privilage of working with the Barton Institute for Community Action here in Denver on a commission for 20 custom, handmade planters as part of a gift to their first cohort of the Pathways Program.
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The Institute is a philanthropic organisation whose mission is to foster and grow places for opportunity, connection, and belonging within Metro Denver by building, supporting and fostering community, and by adhering to their Guiding Principles –like addressing social issues by working with those who are most closely affected. The Pathways Program, in that light, seeks to partner non-profit leaders within the social change sector of Denver to “[i]ncrease the presence, engagement, and skills of Mentors with historically marginalized identities.” With the first cohort having completed the program, Barton wanted to thank them for the work they had done with a special gift.
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Enter me. Barton Institute’s mission and values greatly align with my own, so I was eager to make something special for their cause. After our initial meeting where we went over designs, colors, and timeline, I got to work. Their timeline was very tight as they needed these planters by October 20th, so I dug in and worked every day for four weeks straight to get them done.
This project quickly required me to overcome a steep learning curve as I had never attempted production style throwing at this level, with much greater stakes as this, before; nor had I any experience monetizing my work for such an undertaking. I have since become a much more confident thrower, and have a better understanding on how I should conduct my business given how much work went into these planters.
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All in all, it was a pleasure working with the Barton Institute. I am proud of what I created given the timeframe provided.
Review:
“Working with Wicked Kitten for a commissioned project was a great experience. Alexi was thoughtful and collaborative in bringing my vision to life. My timeline was pretty tight, and Alexi dug in and not only got them done, but done early! The results, 25 custom planters we gifted to our program participants [which were incredibly well received], are stunning and exactly what we co-imagined.”
The
Silver Apricot
Art has the incredible capacity to move, inspire, and encourage introspection in those who interact with it. With my piece, The Silver Apricot, I sought to bring attention to the four Ginkgo trees found here at Friends University to promote their ecological, cultural, and symbolic importance. These trees are located outside the west-side exits of the Riley Fine Arts building, and due to renovations set to take place on the building later this year, specifically an expansion into the current courtyard, concern for the safety of these trees arose. Through this sculpture, I hope to invoke deeper contemplation into how we regard the beauty of nature around us, especially as it pertains to the conservation and protection of species and ecosystems and the implications that can arise when such beauty is removed for the sake of development.
Ecological, Cultural and Symbolic Significance
Ginkgo Biloba, more commonly known as the Ginkgo or Maidenhair tree, are medium to large deciduous flowering trees naturally endemic to China (Petruzzello, 2022). Referred to as living fossils, these trees’ genealogy date back as far as 270 million years (Xu et al., 2016) and are the only remaining species of this ancient order (Petruzzello, 2022). Although these trees are hardy and have endured insurmountable challenges through the millennium, current climate changes causing increasing alteration of natural and managed habitats now threaten their existence (Guo et al, 2019). As listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, undomesticated trees are endangered (IUCN, 1998) and are additionally listed as critically imperiled under the Nature Serve’s status ranking (Morse, 1999).
For centuries these trees have held cultural significance to their country of origin, China, as well as surrounding nations, particularly Japan. Ginkgo trees and their leaves have been cultivated and harvested for use in traditional Chinese medicine (Petruzzello, 2022), and are still farmed as a national product, bolstering economic growth (Guo et al, 2019). Both in China and Japan, real and artistic depictions of Ginkgo trees and leaves were displayed in temples and religious/spiritual paintings, which, once open to the western world in the late 1800’s, contributed to their use in both Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements (Smithsonian, na.).
The Ginkgo has come to symbolically represent profound endurance and resilience, and is regarded as beacons of hope, peace, and longevity, as well as cultivators of community and beauty - such terms aptly bestowed due to having been around since the dinosaurs, surviving an atomic blast, and shaping and forming art, expression and spiritual practice for generations (Smithsonian, na.).
Through conversations with university administrators, I found that the ginkgo located in the courtyard will need to be removed due to the new chapel/performance space set to be constructed. Discussions with contractors concluded that the success of transplanting the tree would be low due to its maturity and the possibility of losing major root structures, thus compromising its survival. This, along with the inability to configure proper machinery in the area to safely up-root it as the current brick pillars are to be used as part of the new wall structure and will not be removed to allow for said machinery, ultimately led to the decision just to remove the tree.
Part of my hope with this project was to find a way to save this tree from being torn down; however, after hearing the plans and considerations regarding the situation, that hope morphed into finding a way to cherish and celebrate this tree, and the others, since it is an honor to have such beauty on the Friends University campus.
Art is subjective, and you can derive your own meaning and take away from the experience; but I hope that after seeing my sculpture and learning more about these trees and their story, you will take some time to visit the real ones just outside the building to cherish and celebrate their beauty. I encourage you to go out in nature, whether that is going for a walk/run, watching a sunset. or simply taking 5 mins out of your day to pause and look at whatever nature is around you. Take this moment to breathe, be present, be curious of the world around and open to growing your knowledge and beliefs around nature and the environment, and be inspired by what you can see, hear, touch and smell.
If you're passionate about making a difference or want to get involved in some way to help the environment, seek out places to volunteer (Botanica, Great Plains Nature Center), look for citizen science projects (they're fun), or, should you feel so inclined, use your voice by voting or writing to government officials and/or organizations, to help promote care and action for a better environment.
References:
Guo, Y., Guo, J., Shen, X., Wang, G., & Wang, T. (2019). Predicting the Bioclimatic Habitat Suitability of Ginkgo biloba L. in China with Field-Test Validations. Forests, 10(8), 705. MDPI AG. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f10080705
Morse, L.E. (1999) Ginkgo biloba, Maidenhair tree. NaterureServe Explorer. https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.158473/Ginkgo_biloba
Petruzzello, M. (2022) Ginkgo tree. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/plant/ginkgo-tree
Smithsonian Education. (n.a) Climate change: Why the Ginkgo. Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access. https://smithsonianeducation.org/educators/professional_development/conference/2009/climate_change/ginkgo.html#:~:text=In%20Japanese%20decorative%20art%2C%20the,and%20are%20still%20growing%20today).
Sun, W. (1998) Ginkgo biloba. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/32353/9700472
Xu, H., Tomastu, S., & McGreoch, C. (2016) Ginkgo. Yale Nature Walk, Yale University. https://naturewalk.yale.edu/trees/ginkgoaceae/ginkgo-biloba/ginkgo-41#:~:text=Habitat%3A,fungicides%2C%20insects%2C%20and%20drought.