If a tree [0] can grow in Brooklyn, can a forest can grow in Manhattan's bustling Times Square?

The Urban Forest Project [1], a new public art exhibit, has blanketed Times Square with trees — metaphoric kind.

Several artists, illustrators and photographers designed a banner —185 in all— using a tree for their inspiration. The banners were then unfurled on lampposts and poles throughout Times Square with the intention of creating a symbolic forest in one of the world's busiest urban areas.

The public art display runs from August 17 - October 31. Afterwards, the banners will be converted into tote bags, to be auctioned off and benefit the scholarship and mentoring programs for visual arts students.

The project is the brainchild of the Times Square Alliance [2], along with the New York chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts [3] and Worldstudio Foundation [4].

Mark Randall, principal of Worldstudio and the designer who conceived the project, told Art Daily [5]: “We developed a theme that presented the designers with two opposing concepts — a forest of trees placed in the middle of one of the most exciting and chaotic man-made spaces on earth. The results have been amazing, the variety of work from the designers is beyond what we imagined.”

It's a fun idea, and one that I hope gets noticed beneath the 50-story billboards and towering neon lights. 

The prospect of seeing a few trees (even metaphoric ones) in the midst of all that visual chaos sounds like, well, a sight for sore eyes.