New Leaf is a celebration of the human spirit. At its core are the generosity and cooperation of the people who help make this happen.

It is impossible to come up with a totally accurate list of all the people who have assisted with New Leaf and the contributions they have made. Hundreds of people have been involved in making New Leaf happen. The more I work on this page, the more I realize I have forgotten. Many of the volunteers on this page enlisted the help of friends and family and I don’t have all the names. I am happy to correct any ommissions.

People are listed in alphabetical order for convenience.

The Artist

Carol Ann Newsome (That's me) I'm a Cincinnati based artist. Prior to New Leaf I created a series of murals of local children in trees located at 13th & Vine here in Cincinnati. I have a Master's degree in Fine Arts. In 2001,Ileft my position as manager of the Talbert House Driver Intervention Program to pursue art full time. My 11 years in the field of Substance Dependence have had a big influence on New Leaf, though New Leaf has its "roots" in many life experiences.

Special Thanks

Tom Allison, Cincinnati photographer, in addition to planting, has put much effort over the years into shooting the polished wood and metalic surfaces of my paintings.

Aunt June was the one who insisted I do something artistic with my cousin Rus,who lives near D.C.

Kathy Beck, former co-worker, assisted with the installation of the Semantics exhibition and later helped me pack the Millennium Project for shipping.

Amy Bogard,Cincinnati artist, became a Leaf-friend after reading about New Leaf in the Cinncinnati Enquirer. in additon to being an enthusiastic planter, Amy assisted with the tedious hand-sanding of hundreds of panels. she and her husband Tony dedicated many hours to the installation and take-down of the Semantics exhibition.

Debbie Brod, Cincinnati artist and long-time friend, stayed with me into the wee hours during the installation of the Semantics exhibition, stapling Leafs to strips of interfacing for hanging. She and her daughter, Naomi planted during the Millennium Project. Debbie also planted the very first international Leaf in Sri Lanka

Gregory Chapman, a St Charles, IL art teacher, found a Leaf in his classroom. Greg invited me to Saint Charles and coordinated the Saint Charles project. Greg's 3 year old daughter assisted with planting.

Katy Charles, arts administrater, organized planters and coordinated press in Denver for the Millennium Project .

Betina Coetzee , a native of Cape Town, South Africa, is an instructor at the SDA Language Institute in Seoul, South Korea. Betina served as coordinator and sole planter for the Seoul project. She and her sister Celeste also coordinated and planted the Cape Town project.

Tyim Courts, creator of Goatee Comics, designed the web site as well as the T-shirts and mugs. He continued to provide technical assistance while I was learning HTML.

Brian Dempsey, long time, long suffering friend, has donated countless hours cutting and drilling over 5,000 New Leaf panels, as well as planting and providing moral support.

David Dillon is a friend from University of Cincinnati days. Currently David prepares exhibitions for the Cincinnati Art Museum. He is also the driving force behind Semantics Gallery, which exhibited the Millennium Project in September of 2000. David hung 125 strips of 16 Leafs for the exhibition. David also spent one very long day with me out in the heat coating Leaf panels with sealant in preparation for painting. David is a very good sport, especially since it was obvious that he had no sleep the night before.

Karen Emenhiser, former art school partner in crime, provided food, shelter and child rearing advice for the Niagara trip. Son Joseph provided entertainment and warm fuzzies.

Anne Kinsman Fisher, author of 2 wonderful spiritual golf fables, (“The Legend of Tommy Morris” and “Masters of the Spirit”) provided much encouragement and advice early in the process. She is also one of my international leaf planters.

Suzanne Fisher, Cincinnati artist, was the projects coordinator for Art on the Square, venue for the prototype project, "Finders Keepers". More recently, Suzanne has been accessing her vast network of acquaintances to procure international planters for New Leaf. Suzanne's husband, Sergio, travels for business and has planted in South America

Lucy Holtzman, art therapist, enlisted her rehabilitation clients at the Brooklyn IRPT program as planters for the Millennium Project.

Harrison Humes, FEMA staffer, opened his house to us in DC. He also planted leaves.

Liz Humes, my cousin Rus Estep's wife, provided the venue for the first New Leaf project. The exhibition at her shop, Sundog Framemakers and Art, Inc., (now in Highland, Maryland) inspired me to future projects. Liz put on the nicest reception I've ever had and toted Leafs all over DC. Rus and Liz developed the hanging technique for that exhibition, which I later used for the Millennium Project.

Harold Koons’ outrageous sensibilities kept me going as he helped plant during Spoleto. Harold died of a heart attack shortly after assisting with the Charleston project. His generous involvement in many civic activites lead to the creation of a Harold Koons award for civic leadership in Charleston. I expect that even now he is tweaking God's funny bone while organizing a beautification project in his new neighborhood.

Susan Lachman is host and producer of "Women On Air", WETS fm, NPR member station 89.5 in Johnson City, TN. Susan became a staunch Leaf-friend after her friend, Pat Minor, found a Leaf at Spoleto and showed it to her. Susan brought New Leaf to the Tennessee-Virginia-North Carolina Tri-state area for the Good Goddess Festival and has beat the drum for New Leaf on several radio programs.

Bunny Madeiros, a massage therapist, provided complimentary services during my visit to the Good Goddess Festival. This was much appreciated after my 8 hour bus ride.

Geporgia Nold, farmer and long time friend, made the trip to DC with me and drove the entire way. She helped tear down the exhibition and popped over 1,000 staples off the backs of leaves. She planted over 150 Leafs herself, holding the record for most Leafs planted by a volunteer. Georgia also survived that gosh awful monsoon that hit DC our second day out.

Ann Pappalardo and her one year old daughter Rachael accompanied me on the Niagara Falls trip. Ann drove and Rachael did her part by sleeping almost the whole trip, both ways and otherwise acting like an absolute ange. Rachael and her stroller provided excellent cover for Leaf planting in the Niagara Falls crowds.

Ann Ream, Art in Public Places Chairperson for the San Luis Obispo County Arts Council, organized planters in the San Luis Obispo area and coordinated a major media event in her area around the Millennium Project.

Starr Redgrave hosted New Leaf: Kalamazoo

Maria Richarson, Associate Director of the Governor's School of South Carolina at the College of Charleston, sought me out after reading an article in the Washington Post in order to bring New Leaf to Charleston. I was her guest during my stay. She also rounded up a troop of volunteer planters.

Karen Schaffer is a woman of remarkable courage who co-coordinated the Good Goddess Festival with Susan Lachman while recovering from a life changing spinal injury. She also assisted me in finding international planters for the MIllennium Project and has continued to plant ever since.

Carl Solway and family of Solway Gallery donated the use of the gallery workshop for the cutting and drilling of Leaf panels.

Rudy Thomas is a chemist with the University of Cincinnati. He is my long-time landlord and very graciously allows me to spend dawn to dusk running my delta sander in the shade on his porch during the summer months. Aside from being a good sport about unrelenting noise and mountains of sawdust, he always drops what he is doing to assist with major bench sanding emergencies. He also feeds me when I have been lost in Leaf-Land and too busy to seek sustenance.

Charles Vess is Karen Schaffer’s husband. In addition to being an all around nice guy and supportive husband, Charles is a fabulous fantasy artist. He provided taxi service during my visit to the tri-state area and leant his humor and aesthetic eye to leaf planting during Good Goddess. Charles continues to plant during his travels.

Planters
Andy Abrams
Diana Affonso
Lancie Affonso
Ulrico and Marcella Agnati
Carolina Alegre
Tim Alley
Judy Atchison
Diane Atkinson
Ruth Banta
Ron Baker
Byron Ballard
Barbara Blayzor
Jennifer Bocek
Wendy Bredehoft
Kristin Brown
Ryan Burkhart
Carol Byers
Dianna Affonso Carvalho
Julie Clemons
Karen Cody
Jill Conway
Cathie Crawford
Louis Culver
Roger Cumminsky
Jeff McDonnell
Dagmar
Regina Dabrowska
Sarah Das
Deepti Datt
Rosemary Dietzer
Sheri Doogan
Kevin and Daria Dunn
Michal Eden
Kathy Erb
Ann Farnsely
Grace Frankforter
Lisa Freitag
Ahmed Galal Helmy
Ignacio Galceran
Marilyn Gale
Galen
Midhat and Feriha Galijatovic
Maryruth Ginn, Illinois
Anne and Mathew Goodstein
Amy Greuel
Julia Gruber
Liz Hahn
Mary Ann Harris
Kelly Hames
Anita Handel
Ann and David Harlan
Josh Hartman
Lorrie Hayes
Carol Hillberg
Susan Holmwood
Hong
Mary Huller
Marianna Hyman
Amy Irons
Werner Jahnel
Sarah Beth Johnson
Patricia Jones
Sandi Kelley
Carla Kennedy
Mathadeen Kicklighter
Wannette Kicklighter
Richard Kidd
Dr. Debbie Kling
Rosa de LaRosa
Glenn Lampman,
Tom Lawrence
Donna, Matt and Erin Lawson
Alan Lee
Riva Lehrer
Julian and Olivia Lewis
Evan Lindquist
Charles de Lint
Kevin Logghe
Andrew Loughnane
Lisa McMillan
Nancy Magahee
Amy Malcom
Stephen Miller
Sharon and Tiim Miller
John Morgan
Katy Morris
Robin Mullins
Louise Nahas
Julie Neel
Dick and Connie Newsome Richard Newsome Jr.
Lita North
Sean North
Dr. David Olarsch
Eric Olive
Diane Owen
Jade Pacicca
Sharon Penn
Ann Perrin
Dieter and Nectaria Pfoser
Mike Purtill
Mary Beth Radcliffe
Tassia Reith
Sonia Renard
Meredith Rettig
Sister Montiel Rosenthal
Magda Rostron
Hunter Shaffer
Shelley and Kyra Shea
Alexa Smith
Susan Smith
Midori Snyder
Sue Sommers
Martine Stirling and family
Taralisa Strong
Barbara Sue Swift
Beth Thomas
Ally Thomson
Kadyr Toktogulov
Ann Tootle
Natalie Tucker
Bobbi Vallery
Robyn Vogel
Haakon Wang
Lexli H White
Megan White
Irene Williams
Pennee Wilson
Josephe Wolfe
Judy and Tom Worthington
Gary Wright
Marylou and Warren Wright
Viki Zoltay
Zsuzsanna

and over 175 Saint Charles High School students and teachers.