The Tree of Life exhibition was the inspiration of local designer and maker Emma Carlow. As part of her Make Believe Museum Shop exhibition Emma designed a flat pack tree of life from plain ply wood, which when bought and constructed could be painted and decorated, encouraging visitors to make and have a go for themselves.  Emma started to imagine what the trees would look like painted by others, so invited a group of artists with either a connection to Sussex or Ditchling Museum of Art & Craft to join in and the resulting trees formed the exhibition.  The works were then sold via an online auction to raise funds for Ditchling Museum of Arts & Craft.

Participating artists: Emma Carlow, Chiara Bianchi, Chris Gilvan Cartwright, Gary Goodman, Adrian Johnson, Jo Lamb, Hello Marine, Morag Myerscough, Cara Oliver, Bob and Roberta Smith, Samantha Stas, Jo Sweeting, Emily Warren, Sarah Young.