ONE of the country’s most scenically beautiful visual arts venues, Sculpture by the Lakes, at Pallington near Dorchester, hosts an exhibition by The Arborealists, from 22nd March to 19th April, the first time the group has exhibited in Dorset.

The Arborealists group, which was founded in 2013, comprises 50 professional artists, who celebrate trees in painting, drawing, print-making, photography and three-dimensional work. This is their 40th exhibition. The inaugural exhibition in 2014 at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol attracted national media attention, with The Telegraph describing it as “spellbinding.”

This new show of 40 selected works has been curated by the group’s founder, artist and curator Tim Craven and returning artist Paul Newman, who is creative director of Dorset Visual Arts, based at Sherborne House.

The Arborealists span a wide geographic range, with members from across the UK and beyond. Despite their diverse practices, the group is united by a shared fascination with trees, which is reflected in their dramatic, contemplative, expressive, abstracted, hyperreal and surreal artworks.

Collaborations with environmental organisations, including national park authorities, the National Trust, National Landscapes and the Woodland Trust, have produced nine publications with further site-specific projects on the horizon.

The seed for this collaboration with Sculpture by the Lakes, a sculpture park with a gallery set among a tree-dotted landscape of lakes, an area full of birds and other wildlife, was sown during the 2023 Arbor exhibition. As the seasons move from the winter months, this exhibition heralds the arrival and colour of spring, demonstrating the enduring relevance of trees in contemporary art and their power to captivate and inspire.

Pictured: an untitled painting by Arborealist member Alan Rankle; Staverton Thicks, by Richard Bavin.