the first public fruit park in california, this is a civic art project from fallen fruit, a los angeles based artist's collective, that was sponsored by the LA county arts commission with support from the office of supervisor mark ridley-thomas and the county department of parks and recreation.
fallen fruit, consisting of artists david burns, matias viegener, and austin young, was formed back in 2004 with the original project of creating public fruit maps of los angeles neighborhoods. the community maps marked places where fruit trees grew on or over public spaces and were freely distributed so that locals could find and access a previously untapped edible resource.
the collaboration has since grown to include video, photography, site-specific installations and participatory events in cities all over the globe, all while using fruit as a lens through which to view the world. the del aire public fruit park was created with the intention of exploring the relationship between public and urban space and to spark conversations about the meaning of community and citizenship through creating and sharing new and abundant resources.
designed to provide the community with an urban orchard that will be nurtured and harvested by the public, this fruit park is a welcome addition to the neighborhood and is planted with 27 fruit trees (ranging from peaches to plums), several native species of grapevines, and an edible herb garden. along with the orchard, the collective also distributed fruit trees to members of the surrounding community, which will be planted and grow to become an extension of the del aire public fruit park, embodying a vision of urban sustainability.
still in it's infancy, it will take time for the park to come to fruition but it's a noble idea and i can't wait to finally taste the fruits of this labor of love. read more