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Ishita Jain's painting of trees in Washington Square Park. © 2023 Ishita Jain, Searching for Sunshine, published by Princeton Architectural Press.
© 2023 Ishita Jain, Searching for Sunshine, published by Princeton Architectural Press

Washington Square Park Eco Projects is in a book! This blog post is devoted to artist-author Ishita Jain’s illustrations of the trees and birds of Washington Square Park. Jain’s book is titled Searching for Sunshine and is available wherever you buy books.

Searching for Sunshine in Washington Square Park

Ishita Jain's illustrations of Flowering Dogwood, Star Magnolia, European Beech, and Tulip Tree. © 2023 Ishita Jain, Searching for Sunshine, published by Princeton Architectural Press.
© 2023 Ishita Jain, Searching for Sunshine, published by Princeton Architectural Press

These images are from Jain’s chapter about Washington Square Park Eco Projects, and are shared with permission from the author. Jain illustrated park trees including species on the phenology trail in the park (top). We monitor Ginkgo, Eastern Redbud, Flowering Dogwood, Kanzan (or Kwanzan) Cherry, Star Magnolia, Red Maple, Silver Maple, Littleleaf Linden, Kousa Dogwood, Tulip Tree, Yoshino Cherry, Sweetgum, and Swamp White Oak.

Ishita Jain's illustration of the flowers of Kwanzan Cherry, Red Maple, Yoshino Cherry, and Katsura Tree. © 2023 Ishita Jain, Searching for Sunshine, published by Princeton Architectural Press.
© 2023 Ishita Jain, Searching for Sunshine, published by Princeton Architectural Press.

The flower buds of four trees in the park are shown: Kwanzan Cherry, Red Maple, Yoshino Cherry, and Katsura Tree.

Ishita Jain's paintings of birds in Washington Square Park: Cooper's hawk, Common Yellowthroat, House Sparrow, Blue Jay, Wilson's Warbler, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, American Robin, and Red-tailed Hawk. © 2023 Ishita Jain, Searching for Sunshine, published by Princeton Architectural Press.
© 2023 Ishita Jain, Searching for Sunshine, published by Princeton Architectural Press.

Have you seen any of these eight species painted by Jain? A Wilson’s Warbler was spotted during a bird survey this month! This species winters in Mexico and Central America and breeds far north of NYC.

Ishita Jain's painting of the 300+ year old English Elm in Washington Square Park. © 2023 Ishita Jain, Searching for Sunshine, published by Princeton Architectural Press.
© 2023 Ishita Jain, Searching for Sunshine, published by Princeton Architectural Press.

The venerable English Elm in the park, who we call Witness, is gorgeously portrayed by Jain. Read about this Tree of Merit in the September/October 2021 issue of City Trees.

Tree Wonder Washington Square Park

A banner in black background with a gray tree silhouette and white text "draw with us!", @TreeWonderWSP, and a QR code.

Join us every Sunday until June 25th to observe and to draw the English Elm in the northwest corner. Sessions are 11 a.m. to 12 p.m, are free, and no registration is required. Art materials are provided. Check out the project on Instagram @ TreeWonderWSP.

Volunteer

A hand sculpture holding up a large branch of a Horse Chestnut. by Neil Thomas via Unsplash.com.
Photo by Neil Thomas via Unsplash.com.

We’ve got volunteer opportunities for all ages: bird counts, tree monitoring, nature photography, community service credits, and more. Tell us how you’d like to help.