If you have not had a chance to visit the trees on 13th St. between J and K Streets in downtown Sacramento you are really missing out. Thanks to artist Konstantin Dimopoulos, Sacramento has become a Blue Trees City along with Melbourne, Vancouver and Seattle. The project started on Wednesday, October 10th and finished up on friday the 12th.
A couple of us TUBErs took a little stroll down 13th, on Friday afternoon, to catch a glimpse the transformation. To our pleasant surprise, the team was just finishing up the project and things were looking bright. The blue is absolutely electric. Even from blocks away, it catches your eye immediately.
The crew was cleaning up paint that had sprinkled away from the trees onto the ground. Another crew was loading a truck with what seemed to be more than a dozen of smaller trees, which were painted just as brightly. We learned the small trees were heading off to an event that night at Mulvaneys, and that they would later be planted.
Amongst all the action we found Konstantin Dimopoulos. He was covered in blue, working hard along side the volunteers. He happily took a break to chat it up with us. He is just a delightful man, full of smiles. He spoke of his upcoming travels, heading to Florida and New York in the near future to turn an urban forest blue.
His message is genuine and very strait-forward. He simply wants to bring attention to the trees. Daily you walk past them, but truly how many people are looking at them. Forests are disappearing rapidly and are such an important part of our existence. Personally, I think people forget, that without trees we cannot breathe.
The blue he has chosen is vibrant and absolutely the perfect color to attract some attention. Viewing the trees in person, you feel as if you have been swept away to another planet. Seeing the trees in photos looks as if someone has had a heavy hand in Photoshop. It is truly a magical transformation. It definitely has people stopping and asking, what is going on here? While we talked, people stopped for a while and stared. Some people even taking the time to photograph the perfectly spaced blue trees.
The “paint” he uses is actually biologically safe pigmented water. It is environmentally safe and washes away in the rain and sheds off along with the bark. Eventually the trees are returned to their original state.
Sacramento’s trees should remain blue for about 6 months. Make sure to take the time to go have a look before they disappear.
To learn more about Konstantin Dimopoulos and his Blue Trees visit http://www.kondimopoulos.com/
Photos courtesy of Lea Bradley and Melissa Uroff