WAYNE COUNTY, PA — It’s a science lesson and an art class—and it’s a real-life reminder of the future that our kids will own.

TREE is a countywide project blending conservation and art, science and imagination. 

The artists who will exhibit their work in TREE are students at local schools, kids and teens who take their artistic imagination and celebrate trees at the physical, spiritual and environmental level, said Debby Pollak, a member of the Wayne County Arts Alliance (WCAA). 

TREE is also “a collaborative project that partners the WCAA, the Wayne County Conservation District and Wayne County’s public schools, “signifying the interweaving and natural connection between the art, environmental and educational communities in northeastern PA and beyond,” Pollak said.

The conservation district donated a native tree to every public school in the county, and in October, the students planted the trees. In the spring of 2026, they’ll unveil their experience, transformed into art, which will be displayed at the WCAA’s gallery (see “Mark your calendar,” below).

Planting a tree at a Wayne County school

Photo contributed by the Wayne County Arts Alliance

The importance of trees

Trevor Tochydlowski is a forest specialist and ISA-certified arborist with the Wayne Conservation District. He handled the conservation aspect, teaching kids why it was so important to plant trees—particularly native trees.

“Conservation education is incredibly important to teach to children for a multitude of reasons, but one of the most significant is time,” he said. “In forestry, many of the actions we take today won’t show their results for decades.” But the children will be here to watch the trees grow. And decades from now, perhaps with kids of their own, they can come back and see what they helped create.

“They’re growing up in a world where our forests face constant pressure from pests, diseases and invasive species that threaten native ecosystems,” Tochydlowski said. The children will inherit the land and the responsibility of caring for it. “Raising the next generation of educated stewards is one of the most meaningful investments we can make in the health of our environment and the future of our natural resources.”

Photo contributed by the WCAA

Photo contributed by the WCAA

Don’t underestimate art

Why not just leave the TREE Project as a great science lesson?

Because the art aspect is important too. “Artists and scientists need observational skills as well as imagination to do their work,” Pollak said. “The art classroom can be a place where students learn to trust themselves and each other. In a healthy art-making environment, students inspire each other in a variety of ways: imagination, observation and technical skill-building combine to grow young artists.” 

The TREE Project also teaches kids to work together.  “When students make collaborative art, individual artists’ strengths shine, and students learn to rely on each other, fostering compassion and empathy.” 

“That’s what the TREE Project is about,” said Pollak. “Combining science and art with a vision of hope that begins with a literal seed—an acorn—and extends for years and years as the tree and the children grow bigger and bigger.”

Mark your calendar

TREE opens at the Wayne County Arts Alliance, 959 Main St., Honesdale, PA, on Saturday, March 7, 2026. The work, by Wayne County students, includes drawings, paintings, prints, photographs and sculpture of trees “in all different forms: observational, scientific, abstract and interpretive, symbolic, narrative” and more, said Debby Pollak from the arts alliance.

Learn more at waynecountyartsalliance.org.