This fall artists have turned Times Square into an urban jungle with 185 tree-themed banners designed with political, environmental, and social issues in mind. The Urban Forest Project will flap in New York City's skyline through October 31st. The beautiful banners speak in pictures and words. One reads, "Trees can't afford to live here." Another simply states the word "mother" under an image of a pinecone. After the exhibit, the banners will be recycled into hip tote bags and auctioned off with proceeds going to students and scholarships of the visual arts. Mark Randall, principal of WorldStudio, and Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, planted the seeds for the exhibit.

People who see the forest through the trees have approached both Randall and Tompkins, requesting that the outdoor exhibit blossoms into something bigger. Since the banners started flying earlier this month, the Urban Forest Project has spurred interest from other cities, the U.S. Forest Service, and even the Philadelphia Flower Show. For now, New Yorkers and Times Square tourists get a glimpse of the banners. Randall and Tompkins told LIME about how their ideas flowered to fruition, and what they hope the hundreds of thousands of people passing through Times Square will wonder when they look up and see images of trees among the bright lights.

LIME: Where did you come up with the idea to grow a forest of art in the city?

RANDALL: The nonprofit side of WorldStudio is an arts foundation that seeks to find creative ways to explore social and environmental issues. We use design as a way to educate young people. The for-profit part of WorldStudio has worked with the Times Square Alliance. I knew Tim Tompkins had a desire to do art in Times Square, and the pieces kind of all fell into place to develop the banner project.

TOMPKINS: Times Square has always been a crazy manic town square for New York. It's not only a gathering place but also home of all of these major media companies: MTV, Good Morning America, Conde Nast. It's a place where free speech is celebrated and created. This project is an extension of that. We asked artists to speak in their own language and in their own way, about social and political issues.

LIME: So what assignment did you give the designers of the banners?

RANDALL: They could explore trees in a variety of different ways, with messages of politics and the environment. We didn't want to limit designers to the concept of sustainability. We also wanted people to express the topic in a fun and entertaining way.

LIME: How did you choose to focus on trees in Times Square?

RANDALL: I came up with the idea of a tree, which is a metaphor for sustainability. A tree has resonance in all cultures throughout history. Trees have a rich history. Trees are integral for human survival; they give us homes, medicine, and food. Plus, designers use tons of paper! A tree is like a gold mine of a metaphor.

TOMPKINS: We're looking at creative ways to bring natural elements into Times Square. One of my crazy ideas is to look at the possibility of having plantings on the outsides of parking garages and on the sides of walls as a way to infuse green into urban spaces. We don't have a lot of room for literal trees.

LIME: This isn't Time Square's first foray into nature, right?

TOMPKINS: We've done other things with that same contrast. During the summer solstice, we had people doing yoga in heart of the city. Anyone can find peace on top of mountain, but finding peace in the most intense urban environment is a challenge.

LIME: You've got an impressive roster of artists, including Milton Glaser.

RANDALL: The response from the design community was overwhelming. I was taken aback by the enthusiasm. We didn't want it to be a who's who of the design community, though. We wanted to pick some designers, but we also wanted people in a small town in Kansas to participate. After a couple of days, we closed the invitation, because it filled up instantly. I think it's so popular because it's a great project, and it's based in this urban center that everybody knows about.

LIME: How did high school students get involved in the design process too?

RANDALL: We worked with the New York office of AIGA, the professional association for design. They have a great mentoring program where art students are paired up with designers and develop long-term relationships. We had 22 students from the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan, who worked with professional designers. I know they've enjoyed that. They come to Times Square and show their friends what they've made, and that's exciting.

LIME: Mark, you designed a banner. What inspired your tree?

RANDALL: I talked with people about the idea that Americans are such mass consumers. In a way Times Square is the epitome of mass consumption. I found a quote on the NRDC web site that struck me, it says: Americans consume a lot of resources. Trees are no exception.

LIME: What do you hope the public will learn from these images of trees?

RANDALL: One of the down sides of Times Square is that it's a visually competitive place to hang this project. I think people will get the idea that these are all banners about trees. I don't think everyone will get the message about sustainability. But maybe it'll get them to think about nature in the city.

TOMPKINS: Times Square has intensely commercial signage. I think it's interesting to look up and see commercial messages, juxtaposed with the banners' political and environmental messages. I hope people become aware of the ways the city is not always hospitable to nature.

LIME: What will happen to the banners after they come down?

RANDALL: We decided we've got these banners, made of plastic, and most banners end up in landfills. We did do research into alternative forms of material that would be more sustainable, but we found nothing. So we said, let's turn the banners into tote bags and give them another life. So we have Jack Spade on board. We're going to give the banners to him to be turned into tote bags that we'll auction off. This way we sustain the life of the banner and sustain the life of the next generation of designers.