ocasiocasa - The Children's Tree Reverie

an art installation by jeff and dale ocasio
exhibited at The Franklin Shops on First, Fort Myers, FL
October 2017

The story of the Children’s Tree began many moons ago, in downtown Fort Myers, by the Caloosahatchee. A 7-foot tall, bare, leafless tree stood all alone on a mound of green grass. Children, along with the young at heart, from all over, gathered by the tree, and with their hands, began creating multi-colored leaves. Some signed their names, and some wrote messages to the world. For two days, leaves were added one by one to its branches until it was a tree, as full as can be.

And, that is how it became the Children’s Tree.

In February 2017 we accepted a challenge presented to us by ArtFest Fort Myers, in collaboration with the Alliance for the Arts, to design and direct a children’s community art project during the ArtFest Fort Myers festival. The tree in this art installation is the culmination of a weekend that has a special place in our heart. Children that attended the festival were taught how to make leaves for the tree from wire and masking tape. “The Children’s Tree Reverie” is a picture in our minds of how we like to remember the time spent with them.

A local news organization, Hello SWFL, created a video about the Children's Tree that was created during ArtFest Fort Myers last February, and did a wonderful job telling our story in a short video.