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The leaves installed on the Bellarmine lawn are on loan to the Fairfield University Art Museum from the American artist Alan Sonfist (b. 1946). These four larger-than-life aluminum sculptures of leaves were created in 2011 and represent several of New England’s most beloved native trees: the American Beech, the American Chestnut, the Burr Oak, and the Sugar Maple. The sculpted leaves act as reminders to honor and protect the trees, and as a warning that failure to do so could result in their extinction.
In April 2022, the museum presented a panel featuring artist Alan Sonfist and faculty from Fairfield University's Biology Department and Engineering Program, highlighting these sculptures in the context of climate change and conservation.
About the Artist
Alan Sonfist is best known as a pioneer of the Land or Earth Art movement. In 1965, he designed and constructed the environmental sculpture known as "Time Landscape," replanting a 25-by-40-foot plot of land in lower Manhattan with only native plants that trees that would have been present before the arrival of European colonizers. Throughout his career, he has continued to use his art to confront issues of environmental conservation, climate change, and other threats to our natural world.
Events listed below with a location are live, in-person programs (please see our updated Covid-19 policy for protocols for in-person events) thequicklive.com and the recordings posted to our YouTube channel.
Panel: Art, Science, and Engineering Respond to Climate Change
Monday, April 4, 2022 5 p.m.
With artist Alan Sonfist, CAS Associate Professor of Marine Biology Chelsie Counsell, and SOE Associate Dean Elif Kongar
BCC, Dogwood Room
