THE MORTON ARBORETUM ANNOUNCES "TREE DIMENSIONS," AN IMMERSIVE ART EXHIBITION IN ILLINOIS

Visitors to The Morton Arboretum, Illinois, will be able to step inside a tree-shaped sculpture, climb through its roots, and discover the hidden systems that sustain forests when Tree Dimensions, the Arboretum's new interactive outdoor art exhibition, opens on May 22, 2027. Standing between 3 and 6 meters tall, the exhibition will feature five large-scale sculptures that create colorful, immersive spaces to explore, play, and reflect.

The five sculptures were created exclusively for the Arboretum by Chilean visual artist Rommy González and produced by the art agency Millecent, drawing inspiration from a tree's distinctive elements: its flowers and fruit, leaves, branches, trunk, and roots. Designed in collaboration with Chilean architect José Francisco Calbacho, the sculptures transform the intricate structures of trees into interactive spaces that invite visitors to move through them, engage with them, and experience them from different perspectives.

Drawing inspiration from the diversity of shapes, textures, and colors found in trees—from bark covered in moss and lichen to shifting oak leaves and intricate root systems—the sculptures offer a range of experiences while revealing how trees sustain biodiversity, benefit communities, and enhance the world around us.

Born in Santiago, Chile, González is a visual artist based in Berlin whose practice draws on botany, geology, microbiology, and fungi. Her colorful murals, installations, and public artworks have been exhibited across Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia.

For González, Tree Dimensions grew out of a fascination with the intricate structures and relationships that make trees essential to the environment. "I've always been fascinated by the hidden worlds within nature, and I wanted to create spaces that reveal the beauty, complexity, and connections that make trees so extraordinary. By showing trees from different angles, my goal is to help foster a deeper understanding of how every branch, leaf, trunk, and root contributes to keeping ecosystems healthy," said González.

Four sculptures will be located along Conifer Walk at the Arboretum, an ADA-accessible paved path near the Visitor Center that winds through a diverse collection of conifer trees and shrubs from around the world. The fifth sculpture will sit on a hill visible from Interstate 88 and will serve as a standout landmark in the Arboretum's landscape. It can be viewed from nearby areas and reached via a sloped path covered in wood chips.