A small patch of Davis greenbelt will be transformed into a “Sacred Grove” for three evenings this weekend. It may change your relationship to your local greenbelt and its living community long after. Sacred Grove is an outdoor interactive live performance and art installation created by and for our local community to celebrate, connect with, and learn from the trees in our midst.

Bring your voice and spirit April the 13th , 14th, and 15th, 7:00 PM to 8:15 PM, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The program is FREE, welcoming, and decidedly child friendly. Participants may come all or only one evening. Look for the event on the greenbelt between Lassen Place and St Elias Place in West Davis, just north of Patwin School.

WHAT: Sacred Grove outdoor interactive live performance and art installation

WHEN: April the 13th , 14th, or 15th, 7:00 PM to 8:15 PM, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (come once or all three sessions)

WHERE: greenbelt between Lassen Place and St Elias Place in West Davis, just north of Patwin School

FREE

CHILD FRIENDLY

“The trees will speak, and people will respond by giving them tiny gifts and messages. Songs will be sung, stories told, and a baby tree will be welcomed to the greenbelt,” says event creator Laura Sandage. “Most people feel some kind of affinity for trees. This is an evening outdoors for all ages where people can enjoy deepening their connection to the urban forest.”

A cast of eight daring women from Davis and Woodland created the show from the ground up during a two-week collaborative process led by Laura Sandage. Support from the City of Davis Arts & Cultural Affairs Program helped make it possible.

“I enjoyed getting to know a grove of trees that I had walked through many times but had never really spent time with,” says performer Doreen Conte. “I also made new friends and started writing simple songs and lyrics.”

Julia Jones, performer and Minister of Interfaith Forestry, says the project is very close to her mission. “Interfaith Forestry creates spaces in which people can focus their attention on what trees mean to them personally, with the understanding that when trees are meaningful to us, we will take better care of them. The Sacred Grove program has the potential to reach people in this way.”

Laura Sandage is a Davis performer, creator, director and creative community builder who has been catalyzing arts in the Davis area for 16 years. She developed her Con*Spire process of co-creating in supportive community circles through years of teaching kids at the Davis Arts Center and Camp Winnarainbow, as well as facilitating adults in improv, freewriting, singing, and songwriting.

Last spring she gathered a community of creative co-conspirators together to present Sacred Earth at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis. They moved, danced, sang, and talked their way through the elements of Earth, Air, Water, and Fire.

This year a different group of eager spirits joined her in the forest to capture the spirit and to lead us all through a sacred experience there as we honor the trees.

Reservations at Eventbrite: Sacred Grove are highly recommended so enough seating is provided for the free event.