Multimedia arts project wins Sycamore Gap tree commission after public vote | Art and design
A new artwork will transform the preserved wood of a felled Sycamore Gap tree into a “living archive” following a public vote.
Community arts charity Helix Arts and George King Architects were named the winners of voting on Saturday after being shortlisted for a National Trust commission in March.
Their joint proposal, ‘The People’s Tree’, will celebrate the much-loved plane trees through participatory storytelling, sound and sculpture.
The National Trust announced the commission to commemorate the Sycamore Gap tree in September 2025, two years after the illegal felling of the landmark next to Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland triggered widespread public anger and grief.
“A tree can never be replaced as it was,” said George King. “But what we can do is create a place for reflection and connections.”
The winning project, chosen from a shortlist of six projects, received the highest total score from the public vote and the jury; the jury said it showed a strong national resonance as well as local sentiment.
Rather than focusing on a single static monument, it consists of many interactive strands that invite people from Northumberland and across the UK to contribute reflections on trees and their relationship with nature.
These recordings will form part of a national audio archive designed to capture the memory, pain and connection inspired by the loss of the Sycamore Gap tree.
Cheryl Gavin, director of Helix Arts, said the idea was born out of the belief that the project should respond to this loss through engagement rather than merely memorializing.
“We thought there was a lot of potential to engage communities in that sense of hope. When tragedy strikes you often turn to resilience, and a participatory arts program felt like the right response,” he said.
Gavin added that the team would work with communities along the entirety of Hadrian’s Wall and beyond, saying: “We want to work with a range of communities, including those who don’t have the chance to access nature.”
Parts of the preserved tree will be used to create “seed capsules” to store digital recordings of spoken contributions, while others will be used to create a separate audio environment by translating the growth rings into audio format.
Other sections of reclaimed wood will be used to create artworks with communities and local artists and to be developed into exhibitions and workshops across the UK. A website will provide opportunities for international participation.
Finally, a combined sound sculpture and time capsule near Sycamore Gap will preserve and preserve a large portion of the felled tree, along with its own sound archive that visitors can hear. The exact location for this will be chosen in consultation with local communities.
Gavin said: “Artworks polarize people, don’t they? There are so many tastes and preferences, so we’re trying to portray a complex idea.”
The commission, which is due to begin public consultation this summer and be completed in autumn 2027, is creating a wider heritage program that will include planting 49 ‘trees of hope’ saplings across the UK.
The National Trust has confirmed that sprouts have emerged from the Sycamore Gap stump for the third consecutive year.
Annie Reilly, director of public affairs at the National Trust and chair of the commission’s evaluation panel, said: “What stood out about this proposal was how it put the real conversation between people and trees at the centre.
“It doesn’t try to provide a single answer to loss. Instead, it invites people to listen, reflect, and reconnect with nature and each other.”
