The $100,000 grant will fund a collaborative project with Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture

MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG)  – “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree,” or so goes the famous poem by Joyce Kilmer. Trees are lovely indeed especially when considering the many benefits they bring to any environment.  Thanks to a grant recently awarded to Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture, trees along with poems, murals and QR code accessible videos will soon brighten the Olivehurst landscape.

So what’s it all about? Proposition 68 was passed by California voters in 2018. It created Restoration Grant Programs to improve a community's ability to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change and natural disasters like floods and fires and to help enhance drought tolerance, landscape resilience, and water retention, restore habitat and create recreational opportunities. 

California ReLeaf, a lead agency for the project in collaboration with CAL FIRE’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, have been giving grants to local nonprofits to plant trees to help reduce greenhouse gasses. There are other tree planting projects currently underway statewide, the most recent of which is Olivehurst.

The $100,000 grant will fund a collaborative project with Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture as the lead agency along with the South Yuba County Rotary Club and SayLove. The plan calls for the planting of 300 trees at various sites including Lindhurst High School, Yuba Gardens Middle School, the American Legion grounds, Yuba County parks, Yuba College, the Olivehurst Public Utility District office complex and a new Habitat for Humanity housing development. The locations are primarily in Olivehurst due to its designation as a reforestation disaster relief zone. 

So where’s the art in all of this and why is Yuba Sutter Arts & Culture the lead? The grant comes along with a mandate to not only plant trees, but to also provide an educational component. Each site that receives trees will also receive a custom created pop-up mural. Each mural will be unique and will be designed by artists or art students. The visual art will be enhanced with poetry or prose related to trees and the environment. Each 4’x8’ mural will also have a QR code which will enable access to a video with a special message about trees and the environment covering the aesthetics as well as scientific value.

“We decided to undertake this project to again demonstrate our spirit of collaboration with so many groups in the community,” said David Read, Executive Director. “We are proud of all we have achieved and work hard every day to demonstrate how our creative and cultural community is an essential part of economic development for the region,” he added.

California ReLeaf works statewide to promote alliances among community-based groups, individuals, industry, and government agencies, encouraging each to contribute to the livability of our cities and towns and to protect our environment by planting and caring for trees.