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Art Opening - The Secret Life of Trees Series by Kim Bach

• Saturday, August 1, 2026, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Join us for the opening of Kim Bach's show at the Agroforestry Resource Center.

Artist Statement

I am obsessed with trees, the magic they create, the coolness they provide, the wonder they inspire. One of my earliest memories is of a tree next to a polo field in Lima, Peru. I sat for hours nestled in the branches of that tree, feeling safe and adventurous as I gazed quietly down on the world.

In the last 9 years, I have walked the ancient Camino de Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage routes through Spain and Portugal. Each time, varying in length from 100 miles to 500 miles, the adventures have taken me through woods, meadows, forests and streams in all kinds of weather. Sometimes, I walk alone but at other times I get to share the awe of a moment with another. Either way, the wonder of it always surprises me.

The same sense of peace often follows me into the studio at the back of my house, which is an inspiration in every season. The changes in leaf colors, weather, birds, wind and temperature are constant. Those trees are my best studio models.

I think poet Mary Oliver says it best in her poem

Such Silence

As deep as I ever went into the forest

I came upon an old stone bench, very, very old,

And around it a clearing, and beyond that

Trees taller and older than I had ever seen.

Such silence!

It really wasn’t so far from a town, but it seemed

All the clocks in the world had stopped counting.

So it was hard to suppose the usual rules applied.

Sometimes there’s only a hint, a possibility.

What’s magical, sometimes, has deeper roots than reason.

I hope everyone knows that.

I sat on the bench, waiting for something.

An angel perhaps.

Or dancers with the legs of goats.

No, I didn’t see either. But only, I think, because

I didn’t stay long enough.

Location

Agroforestry Resource Center (Business Office)
6055 Route 23
Acra, New York 12405

Last updated July 21, 2026