Banner designs left to right by Janice Arroyo, Katya Crawford, Tristan Pittard, Rudi Backart, Janice Arroyo and Jamie Jett Walker

The Urban Forest Project launched in Albuquerque, NM on October 1st with a kick-off event at the Open Space Visitors Center. Banners by local artists and designers are currently displayed on light poles throughout downtown Albuquerque. Each banner incorporates the form or metaphor of the tree, making a powerful visual statement about the environment. The city is using the project as an education and messaging platform for AlbuquerqueGreen, the city’s innovative environmental program.

The banners will move to various high-traffic areas of the city through Spring 2010, at which time they will be recycled into unique tote bags designed for the project and sold exclusively through local Whole Foods Markets. Sales from the bags will benefit Tree New Mexico, supporting their tree planting efforts in Albuquerque and mission to “keep New Mexico clean, beautiful and healthy.”

K-12 public schools students will also have a chance to submit designs for additional banners that will be hung in November in the Rio Grande Zoo at the BioPark. Wells Fargo helped support this aspect of the program.

The Urban Forest Project was first executed in New York City’s Times Square in the fall of 2006 in partnership with the Times Square Alliance. Albuquerque is the first in a series of planned executions worldwide. Spring 2010 will see the project unfolding in San Francisco, Toledo and Washington, DC. To learn more, visit The Urban Forest Project website: www.ufp-global.com

This project, conceived and implemented by Worldstudio, is being presented in collaboration with: City of Albuquerque and Tree New Mexico, with generous support from Jamie Jett Walker, LithExcel, PNM Resources, Inc, Mesa del Sol, TaGG Studios, Wells Fargo and Whole Foods Market.

Once the banners come down, they will be recycled into unique tote bags designed exclusively for the project and sold at local Whole Foods Markets. Sales from the bags will benefit Tree New Mexico to support their tree planting efforts in Albuquerque and their mission to “keep New Mexico clean, beautiful and healthy.” The project would not have been possible without the generous support of sponsors including: Lithexcel, Mesa Del Sol, PNM, Wells Fargo and Whole Foods Market.

Worldstudio has been working in collaboration with the City of Albuquerque, Tree New Mexico, Open Space Visitor Center and the Albuquerque Biological Park to get the project off the ground. Albuquerque is the first in a series of planned executions, with projects being planned in San Francisco, Toledo and Washington, DC next year.

The Urban Forest Project, conceived by Worldstudio and developed in conjunction with AIGA NY and Times Square Alliance, was first executed in New York’s Times Square in the fall of 2006. To learn more about the project, please visit the global site or contact Andréa Pellegrino.