Concrete Tree

In 2016, artists Paul Santoleri and Beth Clevenstine continued their series of work along the Manayunk Towpath. For several years, the two artists have created artwork along the Schuylkill Canal in Manayunk. Their latest work expands on their recent collaboration Water Under the Bridge.

Along the Towpath, just north of Fountain Street, is Paul Santoleri’s Concrete Tree. In a space once consumed by heavy industry, Santoleri “planted” a concrete tree along a long retaining wall. The relief sculpture symbolizes the resilience of nature, while giving a nod to the industrial past. Adjacent painting and mosaic show some of the flora and fauna above and below the waters of the canal.

A path once used by oxen to pull barges to the mills and factories along the canal is now enjoyed by walkers, joggers, and bikers. As the landscape has recovered, plants and wildlife have quickly filled the niches left open by a cleaner, quieter ecosystem. At its core, Concrete Tree speaks to the contradiction of nature as both fragile, and as an inexorable force.