A new exhibit called Curating Canopy: Trees at Sunnylands will open at Sunnylands Center & Gardens on Sept. 10. It will run for nearly two years, through June 2027. This creative photography exhibition explores and showcases the backstory behind trees at the estate. It also reveals how trees helped the Sunnylands staff transform raw desert into an oasis of serenity. It’s an ambitious show that ties together much of the history and legendary landscaping at the estate.
David Lofthus
House Oaks at Sunnylands
The highly anticipated show was researched and curated by Michaeleen Gallagher, director of Sunnylands Center & Gardens. It features the work of David Loftus, an award-winning, influential, and internationally acclaimed British photographer. Loftus – known widely in the food industry – contributed photography to more than 100 books and works regularly with chef Jamie Oliver. Loftus’ colorful, nuanced eye produced dazzling images. Paired with Gallagher's botanical expertise, together they created a breathtaking exploration of the arboreal legacy of Sunnylands.
Loftus’ images – enormous, tree-sized, floor-to-ceiling photographs – focus on the unique details of trees, including bark patterns, leaf shapes, seed pods, and colorful blooms. “This exhibition invites you to see trees as more than landscape features,” Gallagher says in the exhibition catalog. “Here, they are art – each with its own sculptural form and seasonal expression. They are gifts – given by friends, by past caretakers, by those who envisioned a future of shade, growth, and beauty … But above all, they are living organisms, evolving with time and climate, challenging us to think deeply about what it means to care for a place with both reverence and responsibility.” Interwoven with commentary by Gallagher – whose work meshes art and environment – the show’s catalog also features the musings of Sunnylands’ landscape architects.
Trees like Virginia Live Oaks, crape myrtles, tamarisks, and eucalyptuses play a vital role in actualizing the desert sanctuary and hallowed ground the Annenbergs sought to create at Sunnylands. The American retreat hosted political, business, and entertainment leaders. Iconic trees that were gifted or inspired by U.S. presidents – like the Eisenhower Palms – tell a fertile story about Sunnylands’ roots.
David Lofthus
Olive Trees at Sunnylands
The “tree story” of Sunnylands – complemented by open-air tours plus bonsai- and other tree-related programming – pays homage to the rich history of Sunnylands, its gardens, and its outdoor exhibits. It is “a big challenge for historical sites to maintain a living collection,” Gallagher says. She earned a master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Management. Climate change and extreme heat in the desert make choosing trees for landscaping and maintaining their health a challenge. “There are some trees that did well in the 1960s, when we had regular frosts,” Gallagher says. Today, some of those trees no longer thrive.
Sunnylands features tree-lined views of its vast nine-hole golf course, replete with nesting grounds for majestic birds like herons and hawks. Across the estate, groves of mature olive trees, palms, and jacarandas festoon the grounds. The delightful purple flowers of the latter dazzle the air and decorate the ground when they bloom vibrantly in late spring and early summer.
Many trees at the estate were hand-picked. The beauty and stately nature of Sunnylands is due to the careful selection of trees that founders Walter and Leonore Annenberg and landscape architects chose in the mid-1960s. They transformed 200 acres of harsh desert into a verdant oasis. Reminiscent of European palaces and estates, Sunnylands is a decidedly American venue with a deep reverence for the desert environment.
The Curating Canopy exhibition brings the outdoors inside for visitors. It reveals connections between nature, the environment, art, history, and the complex and sophisticated landscaping at Sunnylands. “The public will get a different view and different perspective on the interplay between the natural environment and the estate,” Gallagher says.
Loftus, who has photographed at Sunnylands since 2022, uses his unique perspective and artist’s eye to capture and protect the extraordinary legacy of this historic landscape so future generations can marvel at it.
For info on the exhibition, visit https://sunnylands.org/curating-canopy-trees-at-sunnylands/
