A sprawling oak wrapped in pink ripstop fabric is the latest public art in Munn Park. Artist David Collins hopes to finish wrapping the tree and add cellophane orchids by the end of this week.
The timing is just dandy for the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority, which commissioned the work and thinks the fuschia hue will pair nicely will with their Valentine’s Day Picnic in the Park event on Sunday.
But the rosy color is incidental to Valentine’s Day, Collins says. Why pink? Because most of the park is green, and pink is the opposite of green, according to Collins. Actually, red is opposite green on the color wheel, he concedes, but pink offers greater contrast.
Collins is being assisted in the project by members of the city Parks and Recreation staff.
Munn Park is the site of several previous Collins public art installations, including 2016’s tree wrapped and painted as a giraffe and 2017’s Clearly People, which involved life-sized cling-wrap sculptures of local residents.
Collins and a Clearly People sculpture Collins painting the Munn Park giraffe