Clearing willow from waterways and the celebration of Armidale Tree Group and the New England Regional Art Gallery’s 30th birthdays were the inspiration for EcoArt australis artist Andrew Parker to construct a number of willow viewing pods on the sight of the 2013 Black Gully Music Festival site in Armidale recently.

The experimental structures varied in shape, some resembling bird nests others with a more open weave simply defining a space. People attending the festival were captivated and enchanted by the whimsical structures, with children gathering more sticks to add their own touches.

Construction began over the long weekend prior to the festival and continued into the weekend of festivities. The challenge was to source the willow most suitable for construction and to gather the quantity required. Reflecting on the process Andrew commented that it had been difficult to involve many people in the construction process because “we didn’t know what we were doing, but now we’ve done it once we’ll have more of a sense of how we can involve more people next time”.