Tree's Company

Patrick Dougherty sticks it to Morris Arboretum.

by Katie Karas

For anyone who ever baked a mud pie, for anyone who ever dueled with fallen-branch swords, for anyone who ever built a tree house, Patrick Dougherty has a message for you: Don't stop.

Dougherty begins his three-week stint as an artist-in-residence at the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania next week, where he will build one of his trademark sculptures: quirky, larger-than-life and made entirely out of sticks.

"I'm kind of convinced that everybody knows about sticks," says Dougherty. "You played with them as children, so it's not so hard for people to pick up working with them again."

Dougherty's work has an unbelievable range, given that his medium — local saplings — remains unchanged. In 2006 on the Brahan Estate in the Scottish Highlands, Dougherty crafted a hut-like structure whose graceful slopes echoed the forested hills surrounding it (pictured). His work for the Savannah College of Art in Georgia, which he crafted in 1998, could not be more different. There, he plastered a geometric print over the building's entrance, creating a contrast between the brick walls and structured steel windows of the building and the natural brown hues of the saplings.

To build his sculptures, many of which tower more than 20 feet tall, Dougherty relies on the help of daily volunteers. Though all the volunteer positions for Dougherty's project at Morris are already filled, visitors are welcome to stop by and watch the sculpture as it progresses from a pile of saplings to one of his whimsical creations.

When Dougherty embarks on a project, he comes at it with no preconceived notions of what he will construct. Last year he visited Morris and looked at potential sites, but until he knows exactly where he will build and with what materials, he avoids making plans. Similarly, he also refuses to name his pieces until they're complete.

"We don't know what he's creating for us," says project manager Patrice Sutton. "We know he's creating something wonderful because his work is always wonderful, but until he's here and we see the sketch he comes up with we don't know what we're getting. It's kind of fun, like having a big surprise."

Sutton says the Fine Arts Committee was drawn to Dougherty's work because of its relevance to Morris, which contains more than 2,500 plant varieties within its gardens. "The very organic nature of his work and the fact that it is made out of plants, things that are very dear to us, made us think that it would go over well with our audience," she says.

Dougherty, though an environmentalist in his personal life, claims he is not actively trying to bring an environmental message with his sculptures. "I think a good sculpture is one that causes lots of personal associations with the people who view it," he explains. "It just so happens that my pieces evoke associations with nature, like bird nests and cocoons."

For this project, Dougherty will use mostly willow saplings taken from the Longwood Gardens.

His pieces typically last around two years before the wear and tear of exposure begins to break them down.

"It's my feeling," says Dougherty, "that the true nature of art is the ability to enliven people's imaginations." Looking at some of his past works of amorphous dwellings and cheery faces emerging from sapling balls, it's easy to let your imagination run wild.

Patrick Dougherty | March 30-April 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, free with regular admission of $14, Morris Arboretum, 100 E. Northwestern Ave., 215-247-5777, morrisarboretum.org