Art exhibitions at Brown University honor and interpret historic campus elm tree

"I felt that the wood was a really charged material, in the sense that when the tree was taken down, people were already thinking about it in terms of its history and the nostalgia and connection to it," Spilker said. "Symbolically, it was a good entry point into the larger themes I was already exploring artistically."

Spilker acquired the wood through Brown's Facilities Management team, which oversees the University's 155-acre campus and cares for its approximately 2,500 trees, and he began crafting the sculptures last year.

For his solo show, Spilker worked with untreated green wood, which has more moisture than the air- or kiln-dried wood he typically uses for woodworking. It required experimentation with tools and techniques, he said.

Through a grant from Brown Arts Institute, Spilker is working with Brown Professor of History Holly Case to curate a second exhibition of art made from kiln-dried wood from the tree.

Spilker and Case, a juror for the show, are currently accepting proposals from the Brown community and members of the public who are interested in using the wood to create a work for a 10-person group exhibition, titled "Point of Entry," which is expected to open at Brown's Lindemann Performing Arts Center in April 2026.

"This will be slightly different than most group shows, as the artists will be selected before they've even made the piece," said Spilker.

A mixture of lumber and live-edge slab will be available for them to work with beginning in January. Opening up the project to creators beyond Brown made sense for several reasons, he said.

"For one, there's a ton of wood," Spilker said. "And no one person has ownership of it. While I've been fortunate to be able to work with a lot of it, we also want to provide that opportunity to as many people as possible."