Urban Wood Encounter, a furniture exhibit showcasing works made from fallen city trees, will open with a reception at the Lynden Sculpture Garden on November 9 and run through January 25, 2015. The project is part of a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Urban Forestry Grant program designed to build awareness and demand for urban forest products, specifically the ash trees of Milwaukee and Waukesha counties, where the emerald ash borer insect has devastated the trees for more than a decade.

“Urban wood comes from the trees that line our streets, shade our homes and define our parks; trees that are not harvested for their timber value but instead often find their way into landfills when they succumb to age, injury or disease,” explains Dwayne Sperber, a woodworker and founder of Wudeward Urban Forest Products, LLC, who crafts projects made only from urban trees damaged by storms or disease. Sperber is promoting the exhibit and managing information about the grant project. He notes the exhibit demonstrates and supports sustainable recovery and the best use of a resource that is typically considered a liability.

Location: Lynden Sculpture Garden, 2145 W. Brown Deer Rd., Milwaukee. For more information, visit LyndenSculptureGarden.org/Exhibitions/Urban-Wood-Encounter.