In spring 2024, the city launched the Quadricentennial Bur Oak Artist Challenge, which invited North Texas artists and woodworkers to create one-of-a-kind artwork using sections of wood salvaged from the bur oak.
Beaudoing said it was important to the city to involve local residents because the tree had such an impact on the local community, including multiple weddings happening at the base of the tree, students doing their homeschooling by the tree and more.
“We launched [the challenge] to make sure the community could share the history of the tree,” Beaudoing said. “We wanted to give woodworkers and artists a chance to create artwork to celebrate the history of the tree.”
The city received 70 applications by local artists, all of whom were accepted into the challenge. Each artist was given varying sizes of wood based on their proposed projects.
Meet one of the artists
Plano resident Larry Solomon describes himself as a multimedia artist with a strong proclivity toward sculpting.
When a tree fell over on his and his wife’s 13-acre property in Plano, he took his first stab at chainsaw sculpting and sculpted owls into the wood. Upon seeing the city’s art challenge advertised in Plano Magazine, he set his creative wheels in motion.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to be part of something so meaningful for our community, and to use my God-given talents to add to society,” Solomon said. “My life purpose is to basically use whatever talents the good Lord has given me to help others, to make a contribution.”
After getting the approximately 3,000-pound piece of wood home, which involved utilizing a friend’s bobcat and trailer, Solomon took about eight months to complete his 360-degree wood sculpture, which features a sampling of local native animals. The sculpture has been donated to the Art Centre of Plano.
“I thought it would be great to capture the animals of Bob Woodruff Park, which for the last 400-plus years have had shelter and protection from this tree,” Solomon said. “I thought it might be a great symbolism of one of the many purposes of the beautiful tree.”
Marking milestones
Solomon provided historical perspective as to happenings occurring during the 400-plus-year lifespan of this Plano bur oak tree.
“1620 is when we had the Mayflower arrive in Plymouth with the first settlers into the U.S.—the tree was around and was probably a little sapling,” Solomon said. “In 1776, the Declaration of Independence [was signed]— the tree was probably 20 feet high ... the tree was there through both world wars.”
What else?
Following retirement from his decades-long corporate job, he chose to “re-fire” on different cylinders and get back to his first love, “which is painting and sculpting.”
Solomon donates 50% of everything he makes from selling his art to My Possibilities, a Plano nonprofit that his wife, Charmaine Solomon, founded, which offers continuing education for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Making an impact
According to a 2021 article on Arborilogical’s website, the Plano quadricentennial bur oak was believed to be the oldest living tree found in North Texas.
The bur oak tree was approximately 90 feet tall, 213 inches in circumference, and had a crown spread of 103 feet, at the time the article was written.
“Most likely, many of the other bur oaks in the area are descendants of that tree,” Beaudoing said. “That area [of Bob Woodruff Park] floods a lot. The most likely scenario is that a lot of those acorns floated away and populated throughout Plano.”
