Nature Art Week in Naperville blends handmade with natural

By most definitions, art is handmade while nature is, well, natural.

But Nature Art Week at Knoch Knolls Park in Naperville is challenging the distinction and showing the impact art and nature can have together.

Nature Art Week, which continues through Sunday, celebrates the installation of an art garden called "See the Forest (For the Trees)." The garden incorporates seven living trees bookended by upended tree trunks with roots showing.

On Saturday, visitors to the Knoch Knolls Nature Center were encouraged to join in make-and-take craft projects, self-directed tree-themed activities and a guided tree-identification walk led by an arborist.

Pranshu Adavadkar of Naperville said his family always wondered about the various plant species on the Knoch Knolls Nature Center grounds.

After seeing the newly installed "See the Forest" garden/sculpture, Adavadkar said, "I like this sculpture and feel you connect more to nature, and are more aware of it. As you learn about the trees here, you start to care more about other trees, like the ones in your own backyard."

Many of the activities continue from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at the park, 320 Knoch Knolls Road.

Artist Jenny Kendler, who created "See the Forest," will meet with visitors at 1 p.m. Sunday to discuss the work and the message hidden among the upturned tree roots. She'll be joined by arborist Scott Stringer of Bartlett Tree Experts in Bolingbrook.

For information, visit napervilleparks.org.