The Giving Tree
An art installation with purpose, The Giving Tree was tree sculpture created by Leah & Michael Rzepka. It was a project that, of course, was inspired by the famous childrens book! Though, our Giving Tree was a 10 foot tall wooden tree sculpture, installed beside Leah’s Waking Garden, occupying an area around 30-50 square feet. The tree functioned on the honor system, encouraging you to give~~~ and then you could take something. We started with its shelves filled with pieces of art, crystals, feathers, and other trinkets that we collected for months to give away as gifts. The Giving Tree has served as an unending, unmanned 24-hour public trading post, creating infinite possibilities for sharing and discovery within a community setting. Making its debut at the 2013 Electric Forest Music Festival in their Sherwood Forest, it was always surrounded by people giving and taking. Just to give you an idea of how it functioned at an event, please look at our photo gallery and watch the video below that features a few moments of The Giving Tree at Electric Forest 2013!
The Waking Garden
The Waking Garden was Leah's first art installation project, inspired by a single dream about being awake in a garden with similar flowers. After its 2012 summer debut, Leah took The Waking Garden wherever she could. This project led her to meet her husband, and together they created The Giving Tree sculpture before they got married. The Waking Garden was truly monumental for Leah. A truly meaningful project built during perhaps one of the hardest times in her life. The Waking Garden was meant to subconsciously inspire others to plant gardens with positive intention.
Zen Table Garden
The sacred Zen Table Garden was created by Leah and Michael Rzepka in the fall of 2017. A project meant to inspire moments of inner zen while in a community setting. Meant to be interactive from both sides of the table day or night. Enclosed in the golden box under the sand there is a light box that illuminates the sand when it’s turned on, making it come alive with color at night. It creates a fun, interactive, zen garden moment for those that choose the push the sand around with the tools. It is really an amazing, fun and interactive project perfect for weddings, festivals, or any community gathering or ceremony.
