Poetree

Artist Molly Keen’s painted utility box first catches your eye with bright blue and yellow, but it is the tree that draws your steady concentration.  Words make up the whole of the oak tree. Free form poetry at the roots invites the viewer with words of “Dream” ‘Provides’ and ‘Connects”.  The trunk stretches upward with the invitation of adventure.  The branches of the tree urge up differing thoughts of power and possibility. Perhaps these were the whispers of the Ohlone peoples who inhabited the Tri-Valley lands a hundred years ago or maybe the longings of contemporary hearts.

Molly Keen’s professional career started as an art therapist for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients in Berkeley, California. These early experiences continue to inspire her works today and honor her formative years of dreaming and creating with her mother, Cindy Keen.  Molly’s works are spread across 37 cities and 24 countries and include murals in public and private art. Pleasanton’s painted utility box at the corner of Hopyard Rd and Black Ave was her first painted utility box.

The Civics Arts Commission under the “Project Paint Box” confirmed this eye-catching and contemplative art. It was commissioned for $750 under the Public Art Acquisition Fund in 2018.

Jan Coleman-Knight