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Don't expect runways, sultry models and haughty designers at the Arboretum's "Spring Trunk Show." However, you will see works of exquisite beauty - more enduring than this season's hemlines.
The "Spring Trunk Show," subtitled "The Art of the Tree," will feature 20 large-scale wood turnings created by Edina artisan Virgil Leih. "Large-scale" is an apt descriptor when referring to Leih's medium. He rescues and re-creates whole tree trunks - discards from the "urban forest" that are otherwise destined for landfill wood chippers and power company burners.
Even after he trims and carves away up to 95 percent of the original tree mass - sometimes as weighty as a ton - Leih's artworks are monumental, some reaching 7 feet high; others 3 feet in diameter. The works are created by turning an entire trunk of a tree, revealing a grain rarely seen by most people.
"Dimensional lumber, used in furniture, is sawn parallel to the trunk, showing side grain only," says Leih. "Turning the entire log shows the end grain inside to outside, revealing the tree's history."
The "Spring Trunk Show" - Leih's first public exhibit - will include works in Minnesota elm, walnut, box elder, cottonwood and maple. "The Spring Trunk Show" will be on display in the Great Hall of the Oswald Visitor Center from April 10 through May 13. Leih will be on hand to discuss his artwork with visitors on Sundays, April 19, 26 and May 3, from 1 to 3 p.m. The exhibit is free with Arboretum gate admission.
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