Witness Tree Project
Art/Science collaboration with Trinity College Dublin
Witness Tree Project
Art/Science collaboration with Trinity College Dublin
Black Church Print Studio is excited to announce an Art/Science commission opportunity in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin (TCD) Botanical Gardens, brought to us by TCD Botany Professor Jennifer McElwain.
This collaboration will focus on TCD’s ‘Witness Tree Project’, for which Black Church Print Studio (BCPS) artists are invited to create a series of 21 prints. A Limited edition box-set of selected prints will be created.
To launch the project, the collaboration will begin with a series of talks and visits to TCD’s botanical collections. The first event, an introduction to the Witness Tree Project and a Herbarium Tour, was held for BCPS members on November 14th in the Herbarium, Botany Building, Trinity Main Campus. Professor Jennifer McElwain provided the introductory talk and guided tour. The second event, a guided tour of the Trinity College Botanic Garden, Dartry by researchers on the project took place on March 6th.
The final set of 21 prints by BCPS artists will be included in a box-set presentation. There is an artist fee for each selected artist. The complete box set of prints will then be part of the TCD collection, BCPS archive, and one box set will be gifted to the donor of the project. We also will have an additional 5 box sets to sell through the studio.
Witness Tree Project open call
In June 2026, 21 prints by BCPS members were chosen from an open call by external selector Brian Fay for the Witness Tree Project box set.
Box set information
- Each print is 18 x 24 cm in size. The print can be within these dimensions or extend to the edge, either portrait or landscape.
- Each selected artist was required to produce an edition of at least 8 prints (5 available for sale through BCPS and 3 donated to the project).
- Artists may produce up to a maximum of 25 editions.
- Each artist received an artist fee.
About the Witness Tree Project
The Witness Tree Project (WTP) explores how trees record and respond to the changing urban environment. Integrating plant ecophysiology, environmental monitoring, and public engagement, WTP examines how air pollution, heat, and drought influence tree growth, function, and resilience.
Each witness tree acts as a living archive. By measuring leaf physiology, particulate deposition, growth, and environment conditions, the project translates biological signals into clear insights about climate, air quality, and urban sustainability.
Through the combination of research and outreach, WTP highlights trees not only as features of the city, but as living records of its environmental change.
The Witness Tree Project is sponsored by iCRAG (Research Ireland Centre for Applied Geosciences).
View the location of the Witness Tree Project trees in Trinity Botanic Garden and National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, Glasnevin here.
Read about the trees included in the Witness Tree Project here.
View specimen scans from trees included in the Witness Tree Project here.
Read about the data collected in the Witness Tree Project here.
Himalayan Birch, Betula utilis. jacquemontil in Trinity College Botanic Garden.
Witness Tree events
2026
Visit to Trinity College Botanic Garden
Read about the visit here
