Art Emporium 66 Asks For Artificial Christmas Tree Donations For Installation

The goal of the Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Porch is to highlight the amazing communities around Tulsa. This week News On 6's Alyssa Miller visited with the artists of Art Emporium 66 about how your old Christmas tree can be re-imagined.

Holiday decorations are coming down, but before people store away their artificial Christmas trees a pair of artists would like to use it for a new purpose.

Amanda and Josh Stout bought and renovated a space in the Red Fork District four years ago and opened Art Emporium 66.

"We provide an affordable place for artists to come and have studio space, be able to put on events, and things like that," said Josh.

What was once a bustling area along Route 66 has become somewhat of a ghost town.

"A lot of the retail and small businesses have moved out of this area, and it has become a huge industrial zone," said Amanda.

The Stouts knew that coming in and planned to use art to make a change.

"We are trying to bring those businesses and life back to this area and let people know that it is a stoppable area on Route 66," said Amanda.

The idea started simple with just a few Christmas trees in planter boxes and was well received.

"We got tons of great feedback from the community of how beautiful the trees looked, how much holiday cheer it brought to the area, the color, and just that it livened up the area," said Amanda.

The goal for the next holiday season is to make it bigger and better, which is why the Stouts are asking for donated trees.

"We are collecting artificial Christmas trees," Amanda continued saying, "We are recycling your old, last leg, you are getting a new one, maybe you already got a new one and you are like what am I doing with my old one, bring me your old one."

They are accepting artificial trees with or without lights and of all sizes, shapes, and colors.

"We will take them all whether it is pink or purple, black, green, or white, I do not care what color your Christmas tree is. We are going to use it," said Amanda.

Use it to do what these artists do best, create something beautiful that the public can walk through, enjoy, and take pictures with.

"We are just constantly looking for a spark to bring traffic, bring tourism, and bring people through our businesses," added Josh.

Donations can be dropped off all year long at Art Emporium 66 at 2615 W 40th Pl in Tulsa. The art installation is expected to go up after Thanksgiving.