Curating Canopy

Overview

How did Walter and Leonore Annenberg transform 200 acres of harsh blow-sand desert into a verdant oasis? The answer, in part, lies in the careful selection of trees that the Annenbergs and their landscape architects chose during the construction of the estate in the mid-1960s. 

Now, a photographic exhibition celebrating the role of trees on the estate, Curating Canopy: Trees at Sunnylands, is on display at Sunnylands Center & Gardens. 

The exhibition marries the artistic eye of the renowned London-based photographer David Loftus, who produced the show’s dazzling images, with the botanical knowledge of Sunnylands Center & Gardens Director Michaeleen Gallagher, who details the 60-year history of trees on the estate in an accompanying catalog. 

Loftus’ images, some of them large-scale, floor-to-ceiling photographs, focus on the intricacies of trees, their bark patterns, leaf shapes, seed pods, and colorful blooms. 

“This exhibition invites you to see trees as more than landscape features. Here, they are art—each with its own sculptural form and seasonal expression …,” Gallagher says in the catalog. “But above all, they are living organisms, evolving with time and climate, challenging us to think deeply about what it means to care for a place with both reverence and responsibility.” 

Gallagher’s research showed that three trees served as pillars to transforming raw desert into the sanctuary the Annenbergs envisioned: tamarisk, eucalyptus, and olive. Each would play a role in blocking blow sand from the northeast or softening the contours of the estate’s landscape. 

Curating Canopy: Trees at Sunnylands will be on display at Sunnylands Center from Sept. 10, 2025, through June 6, 2027. 

Tamarisk trees

One of the landscape plan’s three “pillar trees,” Tamarisk trees — tall, dense, and wooly — were chosen for their ability to block the sand that blows across the desert.

Trees incorporated into architecture

Ficus hedges provide passive cooling to the home’s guestrooms by preventing the sun from heating the walls.

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus, the second pillar tree, was selected to break up wind patterns on the property and slow sand drift.

Still life

An artful assemblage of fallen eucalyptus leaves from the Sunnylands estate.

Olive trees

Over the decades, olive tree varieties of Mission and Manzanillo have been added to the estate. The third pillar tree of the estate, there are more than 600 olive trees at Sunnylands today.

Trees at the residence

Melaleuca, planted in front of the lava-stone walls at the entrance to the Annenberg home, is known as the Paper Bark Tea Tree due to the peeling habit of its trunk and branches.

CURATOR & ARTIST

Michaeleen Gallagher

Michaeleen Gallagher joined the Sunnylands team in 2011, establishing the Department of Education and Environmental Programs. With an interdisciplinary background in science, art, and education, she holds a Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Management, a Bachelor of Arts in Art History, and certificates in Environmental Leadership and Permaculture. 

David Loftus

David Loftus is a lifestyle photographer living in London. He has traveled throughout the world and his photographs have been featured in more than 180 books, many for the world’s most notable chefs including Jamie Oliver, Gennaro Contaldo, Rachel Khoo, and Nathan Outlaw. 

Curating Canopy: Trees at Sunnylands

The exhibition catalog, Curating Canopy: Trees at Sunnylands, was written by Michaeleen Gallagher, director of Sunnylands Center & Gardens, and features the photography of David Loftus. The catalog details the careful selection of trees and their maintenance at Sunnylands since its inception 60 years ago, and both Gallagher and Loftus contribute essays on the importance of trees in their lives. The catalog also explores the landscape choices that have stunned visitors at the adjacent Center & Gardens since it opened in 2012. 

The catalog is available for purchase at the Sunnylands gift shop.