Hundreds of students and parents crowded into the Nebraska City High School Commons on Monday, March 4, 2013, to view over 1,000 trees designed by Nebraska City students.

Every student in Nebraska City, including those from the Public Schools, Lourdes Central Catholic, and the Nebraska Center for the Education of Children who are Blind or Visually Impaired, worked on their own special project as part of An Enchanted Arboretum.  Students learned about line, form, and color, and, in some cases, modeled their designs on the work of a famous artist.  

Amy Allgood is a parent of five students at Lourdes Central Catholic.  She was excited to attend the Student Showcase.

"What an awesome event!" Amy said.  "I'm glad my girls were able to be a part of this.  NCECBVI had amazing trees and the teacher at that table was so good with girls, talking to them about how her students created their trees.  I had given my girls the 'Hands Off' rule as we walked up to the table, but the teacher encouraged them to touch the art!  It was just a great night!"

The students with winning maquettes have already started to work on four-foot models of their trees.  Those trees, along with 25 six-foot trees currently under production by professional artists and local high school students, will be unveiled on the Otoe County Courthouse lawn in Nebraska City on Saturday, April 20, 2013.  All the trees are set to be auctioned off in the fall.

An Enchanted Arboretum is a collaboration between the Nebraska City schools; Arts Are Basic, a partner program of Doane College; the Arbor Day Foundation; the City of Nebraska City, Icon Poly Studio, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts; Nebraska City Tourism and Commerce; and the Nebraska City Area Economic Development Corporation.  This project is also supported by numerous local funders.