| I have fallen in love with a tree in the middle of a gigantic parking lot. I cannot really explain how this happened, but love is a hard thing to explain. The tree is not something that most people notice, except as a source of shade for their cars. Yet, somehow, on a beautiful summer day in June 2005, I was drawn to the beauty of this forsaken California Sycamore tree, stuck in the middle of Rose Bowl parking lot K. I was touched by how lonely it was, and I was outraged by the many indignities it suffered. | 
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Joel Tauber
Joel Tauber, My Lonely Tree, 2006. Lightjet print, mounted on aluminum, 56 x 72 inches. Courtesy of Susanne Vielmetter LA Projects and the Adamski Gallery.
I I have fallen in love with a tree in the middle of a gigantic parking lot. I cannot really explain how this happened, but love is a hard thing to explain. The tree is not something that most people notice, except as a source of shade for their cars. Yet, somehow, on a beautiful summer day in June 2005, I was drawn to the beauty of this forsaken California Sycamore tree, stuck in the middle of Rose Bowl parking lot K. I was touched by how lonely it was, and I was outraged by the many indignities it suffered.
The tree, like most parking lot trees, was starved for water and oxygen due to the asphalt that surrounds it (there was a rather small tree pit). The stress from the lack of water and oxygen led to an increase of a variety of pests: anthracnose fungus, lace bugs, and powdery mildew. The tree was in grave danger from the cars that liked to park near it to benefit from its shade. Cars had hit and damaged the trunk, but the cambium had not yet been pierced and the tree still lived. But, it did not live an easy life, and it had almost no chance of creating offspring.
I have taken it upon myself to try to rectify the many wrongs that this tree has suffered. Since August 2005, I have been watering the tree with large water bags. In October 2005, I built and installed tree guards in order to protect the tree from cars. I spent many months lobbying the City and the Rose Bowl to remove the asphalt beneath the canopy of the tree, so that the tree would get more of the water and oxygen that it desperately needs. In September 2006, the Rose Bowl removed 400 square feet of asphalt beneath the tree and replaced it with mulch. On July 30, 2007, the Rose Bowl placed a permanent boulder barrier around the tree. These boulders protect the tree from cars and provide seating for people to contemplate the beauty of the tree. But, the tree still had no chance to reproduce, and that upset me greatly. So, I decided to help the tree reproduce. And, soon enough 200 tree babies emerged!
I have been preoccupied with finding happy homes for all of the tree babies. I spent the last year planting the tree babies at green homes (both public and private) throughout California. I made tree baby maps and a museum celebrating the tree, and I placed plaques with text from the tree museum in many of the public locations.
In front of the USC Roski School of Art, a tree baby is adorned by a necklace consisting of sculptures made by students in response to the plight of urban trees. Similar installations have taken place at other schools. Additional tree baby sites include a grove of 17 tree babies planted in the Arroyo Seco Valley, extremely close to the parent tree.
