Patrick Dougherty, Easy Rider, 2010. Woven saplings, installation view.

Patrick Dougherty

Washington, DC

Dumbarton Oaks

A contemporary Johnny Appleseed who sows giant orchards, Patrick Dougherty blew into Georgetown last year with one assistant. As friendly as Tom Sawyer recruiting fence-painters, he conjured up a village of 100 volunteers and, for three weeks, led them in harvesting, hauling, and weaving truckloads of maple and hornbeam saplings from nearby forests. By the autumn solstice, they had built a circle of monumental nests in the magical gardens of Dumbarton Oaks, two miles from the National Mall…see the full review in June’s magazine.