The Residence Halls Association is partnering with multiple departments across campus to remove trees that stand in the footprint for the Virginia Avenue South Residential Hall project.
But the trees will not be thrown away – instead, they will be turned into art for the new building.
RHA hopes to team up with local artisan and Columbia College professor Tom Stauder to design and develop practical pieces for students. Stauder specializes in crafting artwork out of wood.
Harriett Green-Sappington, associate director of Residential Life Operations, orchestrated the project. She said it was a pretty easy decision for her department to get involved.
“The decision among the department was a collective one,” Green-Sappington said.
All the trees in the way of the new residence hall had to be removed, Green-Sapington said. But instead of throwing the trees away, she said RHA had a different idea – they wanted to use the trees to create different items, such as desks and chairs.
RHA first had MU Landscape Services evaluate the condition of the trees to make sure they were viable to use for the project. Other departments came in later to uproot selected trees.
Dr. Hank Stelzer, associate professor and chair of the Department of Forestry, has uprooted about four trees for the project with his students.
“We used the trees that have good characteristics to be used by the artist,” Stelzer said.
Green-Sapington said they’re also trying to make the project educational for students. Stelzer was able to incorporate this RHA project into a Forestry field studies class. He said the field studies class learned from members of the Department of Forestry, while gaining the “practical experience of uprooting the trees.”
But the project is still a work in progress, Green-Sapington said. RHA is currently working to bring Stauder in on the project.
She also said there is an issue with the wood. They will have to figure out which pieces can be used after they cut the trees into wooden planks, cleanse and dry them. This will be through the coordination with local woodworkers, she said.
Steltzer said this is a young and budding project.
“A field studies class helped drop the trees about a week ago,” he said.
This is the first time a project like this has been undertaken at MU, but Green-Sappington said it’s hopefully not going to be the last. She said she thinks the project is going to turn out well.
“Other schools have done this successfully,” she said. “It all just came together (for us.)”