The Morton Arboretum’s Human+Nature exhibit featuring works by South African artist Daniel Popper has been a big success since it opened in May 2021, drawing large numbers of visitors to see the oversized sculptures.
It’s been so successful that the arboretum commissioned Popper to create three additional sculptures to add to the collection. Those three, which are already on the grounds, will be officially unveiled June 17 to make a total of eight works now available for viewing.
“It’s been very successful for us,” said Tari Marshall, the arboretum’s director of public relations and social media. “People have been coming back again and again to see them.”
The additional sculptures are just part of the arboretum’s plan to celebrate its centennial anniversary this year.
“The additional sculptures were not planned from the start; however, the arboretum had explored the option of adding sculptures in the second year with Daniel Popper,” Marshall said. “So it was discussed as a possibility, but it wasn’t definitively planned. But with the popularity of the exhibition and the arboretum’s centennial celebration in 2022, the three new pieces turned out to be a very good fit.”
As with his other creations at the arboretum, Popper started by working with the staff to determine where on the grounds the sculptures would be located. He then designed and fabricated the sculptures overseas, shipping them in pieces to the arboretum. Once there, he assembled and put the finishing touches on them to ensure they fit the landscape as he had hoped.
“He works with various paint colors once he’s one site and determines how they’ll be presented,” Marshall said. “The creative process is completed while he is here at the arboretum.”
A smaller-scale work, dubbed the Centennial Sculpture, now sits outside the Visitor Center in the Arbor Court, designed to celebrate 100 years of the Morton Arboretum. A second of the new works can be found on the arboretum’s East Side in the Bulb Meadow near the Maple Collection. The closest parking lot is No. 14. The third is hidden away on the West Side in a secluded wooded area south of Lake Marmo. The closest parking lot is No. 29.
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“I think people are really going to like that one, with the way it interacts with the light,” Marshall said. “It’s always changing.”
In addition to the new sculptures, the arboretum is bringing back its Arbor Evenings concert series this summer. Each show is held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 24, with tickets running from $8 to $13. Visitors are invited to bring a chair or blanket to sit on Frost Hill, which overlooks the concert stage and Meadow Lake.
“It’s a new location for us this year because of the work being done in the Grand Graden, but it’s going to be a great spot,” Marshall said. “Particularly around dusk, the area is just beautiful.”
People can pack their own picnic dinner or take advantage of the rotating group of food trucks on site.
“There’s something to appeal to just about anyone,” Marshall said, of the musical entertainment.
Also this summer, the arboretum continues performances of its Walking Plays, full-length plays that have been adapted to be performed by actors over the course of a one-to-two mile hike. The audience, of course, follows the cast along the route. To celebrate the centennial, this year’s production includes “A Walk with Joy,” which examines the life of arboretum founder Joy Morton.
“It’s a great way to tell our story, of how this place came to be,” Marshall said. “I think people are going to like it.”
Morton Arboretum Human+Nature Exhibit
When: Through March 2023; open from 7 a.m. to sunset seven days a week
Where: Morton Arboretum, 4100 Illinois Route 53, Lisle
Tickets: $8-$16
Information: 630-968-0074; mortonarb.org
Jeff Banowetz is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.