Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
About 50 mouth covers made by residents of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, along with hundreds of messages of gratitude and hope, have given new life to two trees in this place under the project called "Gratitude Trees.
The intervention is an effort by community residents Connie Chuang, David Peng and Debra Cen, who wanted to honor the employees - the frontline health workers, teachers and essential workers who have risked their own lives to help others during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It should be noted that the trees have been decorated since 2012, when a resident began decorating them almost every month for the holidays starting with Halloween. While a sign posted on the site encourages people to add their own unused masks and write their own messages on the trees on Bryant Street and Lowell Avenue.
"I thought decorating these two famous trees in our neighborhood would be a great way to honor tradition and show love and care during the pandemic. So we came together to start the project," according to Debra Cen.
For his part, Chuang, who declares that he was skeptical of the use of the mask at the beginning of the pandemic, but that he is the creator of several of the masks, points out that the joint work of the community has become something artistic, significant, brilliant and joyful, with positive intentions of promoting art, community health and solidarity.
The messages that people have left reflect hope, gratitude, although they are also a tribute to the human losses: "Your life was marked by joy: go enjoy your coffee, a walk, your family", you can read in one of them.
The masks also change continuously, as some people have taken them away and have had to keep replacing them. But there have also been many others who have added their own mask.
