What is the Wych Elm Project?

The Wych Elm Project follows on from two very successful exhibitions seen at the gardens. In 1993 Tim Stead used all of an ash tree from the Botanic Garden to make a huge range of sculpture and furniture. In 2001 the onetree exhibition brought a collection of art, sculpture and furniture made from a single English oak. The third in the trilogy is using a much loved elm tree that sadly had to be felled in the Botanic Garden.

The Wych Elm Project is unique in that all the work will be commissioned. We are looking for customers who want to have work made and aim to find for them a maker who can complete the project. In this way all the work shown will be the result of a creative relationship between client and maker. We hope to show how rewarding it can be to commission a piece of work rather than buy it off the shelf.