"What an amazing and unique donor tree you created for the
Willard Baxter Woodturning Studio. It is truly a work of art, and we all
appreciate your creativity and your sensitivity to the
special character of the Folk School.

It is perfect - thank you!"

Susi Hall,
Development Manager, John C. Campbell Folk School

Project Details

This Tree of Life donor recognition tree was created as a commission for the John C. Campbell Folk School's new Willard Baxter Woodturning Studio. The folk school is located in Brasstown, NC and was founded in 1925. The woodturning studio was opened in January 2007 and dedicated on April 21, 2007.

The donor recognition tree is made entirely from five varieties of wood - walnut, poplar, maple, river birch and oak. The background canopy of the tree is made from poplar with a solid poplar backing and laser cut patterns made to represent background foliage. The hand carved trunk and limbs are made from black walnut. The leaves are made from regular and figured river birch as well as regular and curly maple and are mounted to the tree using oak dowels. The leaves were laser cut and laser engraved with the names of all the wonderful people and organizations that donated resources to building the studio. The donor tree was created with eighty eight leaves, but has room for more to be added as needed.

The trunk of the tree features the John C. Campbell Folk School logo inside a heart. Reminiscent of lover's initials carved on a tree, the heart and logo symbolize the great love these donors have for the folk school and for Willard Baxter. As with most of our work this project was finished entirely with Arm-R-Seal Oil and Urethane finishes.

This completed tree is approximately forty two inches tall and fifty two inches wide. The same design concept can be used to create larger, smaller and themed, custom donor recognition projects. This tree of life was designed, created and delivered in less than thirty days.

A sample of pictures from the dedication.