Seaside Chestnuts On View & A Documentary Video
May Babcock (b. 1986, lives and works in Pawtucket, RI), Seaside Chestnuts, 2026, Chinese-American chestnut trees, flax, recycled fencing, milkweed, black walnut, goldenrod, and beeswax. Commissioned for The Land Tells Our Stories, an Art & the Landscape exhibition by The Trustees, MA. Photo by Chris Cardoza, Doza Visuals
The living installation is now on view! 🎉🕺🌱
I'd like to introduce you to Seaside Chestnuts, commissioned by The Trustees of Reservations and curated by Tess Lukey as part of The Land Tells Our Stories exhibition.
Documentary Video (10 min.)
Documentary video by Chris Cardoza / Doza Visuals
At Moose Hill Farm in Sharon, MA, 11 American, Chinese, and hybrid American-Chinese chestnut trees are protected and heightened by seaweed-inspired sculptures.
I made the forms with the farm's leftover fencing, and coated them with paper pulp made from local flax, and milkweed, black walnut, and goldenrod gathered from the surrounding meadows.
The fencing part will be up for several years, then removed once the chestnut trees are big enough to survive the deer.
Commissioned for The Land Tells Our Stories, an Art & The Landscape exhibition by The Trustees, MA. Photos by Chris Cardoza, Doza Visuals.
Directions & Hours
The address is 396 Moose Hill St, Sharon, MA. You'll park in the parking lot right next to the meadow where the sculptures are, which is next to the Cooperative Nature School.
So, no need to tromp through the forest to see this work 😂.
It's open year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset, and FREE to all.
Thank yous
The Trustees and staff of deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum, supporters of these installations, the chestnut trees and support are provided by The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) and TACF Massachusetts / Rhode Island Chapter, flax from Hawk & Handsaw Farm, flax day help from Southeastern New England Fibershed and RISD Landscape Architecture students, watering and soil testing help from the Cooperative Nature School and staff.
More!
There is also a coinciding process exhibition at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA. Plus, do check out Ella Mahoney’s and Posey Moulton’s fabulous installations happening at different Trustees sites across the state.
PS.
If you walk up the main farm drive towards the community garden, you'll see 2 more ! And if you're feeling adventurous, you can continue up the trail to the left and see the Boston skyline 🏙️.