100 years ago, there were 2,000 varieties of peaches, nearly 2,000 different varieties of plums and almost 800 named varieties. Today, only a fraction of those remain, and what is left is threatened disease and climate change. Those varieties that are threatened. A red-flesh peach brought then cultivated by Native. An apricot that was brought who came to work. And countless varieties of plums and were then brought by Italian. None of these varieties are indigenous. In fact, almost all of our fruit trees including apples and peaches and cherries. So more than just food, embedded within these fruit. It's the people who cared for who valued them so much as a connection to their home, and it's the way that they've passed. In many ways, these fruit are our story. And I was fortunate enough through an artwork that I created. The Tree of 40 Fruit is a single tree that grows 40 different. So that's peaches, plums, apricots, all growing on one tree. It's designed to be a normal-looking tree until spring, when it blossoms. And then in summer, I began the project. I wanted to change and to be honest, create this startling moment. Blossom in all these different colors and bear all of these different fruit. I created the Tree of 40 Fruit. I'll collect cuttings and then graft them. In fact, almost all because the seed of a fruit tree. So when we find a variety the way that we propagate it and putting it onto another -- which is kind of crazy to think that every single Macintosh apple that's been grafted over and over. But it also means that fruit trees. I've known about grafting. My great-grandfather made a living in Southeastern Pennsylvania. And although I never met him, any time anyone would mention his name, they were quick to note that he knew how to graft as if he had. I decided on the number 40 because it's found as not the quantifiable dozen but a number that's beyond counting. It's a bounty or a multitude. But the problem was that when I started, I couldn't find 40 different and this is despite the fact which, a century ago, was one of the leading. So as they were tearing out and old, vintage orchards, I would collect branches off them and graft them onto trees in my nursery. So this is what the Tree of 40 Fruit and this is what they look like. This is definitely not a sport. It takes a year to know it takes two to three years and it takes up to eight years. Each of the varieties grafted has a slightly different form. And I realized that by creating a timeline in relationship to each other, I can essentially shape or design. And this is how they appear during summer. They produce fruit from June. First is cherries, then apricots, Asian plums, nectarines and peaches, and I think I forgot one. Although it's an artwork as the project continues, it's been conservation. As I've been asked to create what I'll do is I'll research varieties that originated or were. I'll source them locally so that it becomes an agricultural history. And then the project got picked up online, which was horrifying and humbling. The horrifying part of images of the Tree of 40 Fruit. Which I was like, Why would. And the humbling part from pastors, from rabbis and priests who asked to use the tree. And then it became a meme -- and the answer to that question [Is your marriage. Like all good memes, this has led to an interview and as a college professor, like, that was the pinnacle but you never know who's listening to NPR. And several weeks after the NPR interview, I received an email. The Defense Advanced Research to come talk about and it's a conversation that quickly. You see, our national security. Now that we've created these monocultures that only grow a few, if something happens it can have a dramatic impact. And the key to maintaining is preserving our biodiversity. 100 years ago, this was done or a small stand of trees and grew varieties that were. These are plums from just one Tree. Several years into the project, I was told that I have one of the largest in the Eastern United States, which, as an artist. But in many ways, I discovered that the majority were heirloom varieties, so those that were grown before 1945, which is seen as the dawn. Several of the varieties dated back. And finding out how rare they were, I became obsessed and the vehicle for this became art. I would go into old, vintage orchards and I would save the bowl that possessed the original graft union. I started doing pressings to create herbarium specimens. I started to sequence the DNA. But ultimately, I set out through these copper-plate etchings. To tell the story of the George IV peach, which took root between someone walks by, tastes it, it becomes a major commercial because it tastes just that good. Then all but vanishes, because it doesn't ship well and it doesn't conform. But I realize that as a story. And in the telling of that story, it has to include the experience to smell and to taste those varieties. So I set out to create an orchard to make these fruit and have the aim of placing them that I could possibly find. Naturally, I started looking for an acre. which, in retrospect, and probably the reason why nobody. until eventually, four years later. So Governors Island is a former naval base that was given. And it opened up all of this land just a five-minute ferry ride. And they invited me to create a project that will bring back fruit varieties that haven't been grown. Currently in progress, The Open Orchard that possess 200 heirloom. So these are varieties that originated. Varieties like the Early Strawberry apple, which originated on 13th Street. Since a fruit tree. The Open Orchard will act or an archive of these fruit. Like the Tree of 40 Fruit, it will be experiential; it will also be symbolic. Most importantly, it's going to invite and to learn more about their food. Through the Tree of 40 Fruit, I've received thousands asking basic questions. With less than three percent having any direct tie to agriculture, the Open Orchard to come take part in public programming to learn how to graft, to grow, to take part in fresh eating to work with local chefs and to recreate centuries-old dishes that many of these varieties. Extending beyond the physical it will be a cookbook. It will be a field guide that talks about the characteristics their origin and their story. Growing up on a farm, and I didn't want anything to do with it. So I became an artist. But I have to admit that it's something. And I don't think that I'm the only one. 100 years ago, we were all much more the cultivation and we've been separated from that. The Open Orchard creates the opportunity not just to reconnect but a way for us to consider. Thank you.