What to Know
- Barnsdall Olive Wood Workshop Exhibition and Online Auction
- On view through Dec. 4 at the Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Tuesdays through Saturdays
- The auction will support new plantings and the upkeep of the 130-year-old olive grove, which is located near the Hollyhock House
The Golden State is the lucky home to a host of shade-delivering, branch-beautiful superstars, from the sky-high redwoods to the girth-tastic sequoias to the wizened bristlecone pine trees and ocean-adjacent Torrey pines, too.
And right in the middle of Los Angeles, in East Hollywood?
There's another leafy wonder that's near to the tree-loving hearts of many Angelenos. We're speaking of the iconic olive trees of Barnsdall Art Park, handsome specimens that fill a picturesque grove, a truly old orchard that dates back to the 1800s.
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Of course, these olive trees aren't as huge, nor as ancient, as the trees mentioned above, but they have long thrived in the middle of an ever-embiggening metropolis, thanks to the care and concern of the people who form the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation.
Those grove-loving give-backers are eager to add more trees to this hilltop grove, which sits just steps from Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, our city's sole UNESCO World Heritage Site.
To help it meet that growful goal, the organization is presenting the Barnsdall Olive Wood Workshop Exhibition and Online Auction, an art show featuring "recently" pruned wood collected from the olive trees.
The exhibit, which features pieces by a host of Los Angeles artists, including Janna Ireland, JPW3, Cayetano Ferrer, Kelly Akashi, Azadeh Shladovsky, Nancy Monk, and Jamie Bush, is on view at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles through Dec. 4, 2021.
The gallery is located just a few minutes east of Barnsdall Art Park.
If you're keen to bid on one of the works o' wood, there's an online auction. The net profit of the sales? The money will go to the artist as well as the foundation's effort to keep the existing olive trees healthy.
Oh yes: Funds will also bolster the purchase of more trees for this glorious grove.
But how well do you know this park?
You may have attended various wine or food events there over the years, or come to enjoy a sunset and the perfect view of the Hollywood Hills.
Have you, though, counted all of the olive trees in this venerable grove? There are 463 trees in all, and the foundation hopes that 40 new olives trees will soon join the one-of-a-kind urban forest.
The Barnsdall Olive Wood Workshop Exhibition and Online Auction will aid that arboreal aspiration, while several Barnsdall buffs will get to keep a bit of the grove in their own homes, courtesy of a beautiful work of art.
