Holiday Tree

The Origami Holiday Tree is an annual event produced by OrigamiUSA at the American Museum of Natural History. Each year, OrigamiUSA and our team of volunteers designs and produces a stunning tree in the main hall of the Museum, decorated with hundreds of origami figures folded and sent in by members and origami aficionados from around the world. This gorgeous spectacle has been an institute in New York City for many years, and is a linchpin of the relationship between OrigamiUSA and the Museum of Natural History.

Holiday Tree 2011

Pictures of the 2011 Holiday Tree are up! See the link below. The tree will be open to the public from November 21, 2011 until the first week of January, 2012.

Holiday Tree 2012

The subject of the 2012 Holiday Tree will be chosen in late 2012. Watch this page (or the Hot News on the home page) for details.

Please contact Delrosa Marshall and Ros Joyce at if you have other questions.

Holiday Tree Galleries

Click the links below for galleries of past trees. If you have photographs of older trees (or more to add to these), please please contact us at ; we'd love to add your to the collection!

• 2011 Holiday Tree — AMNH's Biggest and Best. For almost 40 years, OrigamiUSA has designed and decorated a tree to herald the beginning of the holiday season for the Museum and its visitors. Inspired by the blue whale (largest animal in the world), current exhibitions "The World's Largest Dinosaurs" and "Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration," this year's theme celebrates sheer size and scope. Drawing upon the diversity in halls and galleries, these origami models represent some of the largest natural and cultural exhibits on display throughout the Museum. From the satellite at the top of the tree to the moai at the base, we invite you to embark on a journey of the AMNH's Biggest and Best.
• 2010 Holiday Tree — Discovery. Against a background of familiar groupings according to various museum halls, including the popular dinosaur run, star mobiles, etc., we constructed a new top star and different base models. The base had three areas: To commemorate the Planetarium anniversary, there was a telescope, several planet representations, and space vehicles. For Race to the End of the Earth, there were penguins, leopard seals, sled with dogs, appropriate whales in an icy environment. The third area represented a dinosaur dig at the Gobi Desert with egg nest, dinosaur parts, tools.
• 2009 Holiday Tree — Origami from A to Z. Using all the letters of the alphabet, the 2009 Origami Holiday Tree theme of “Origami from A to Z” provided a backdrop for grouping animals having names that started with a particular letter. As a challenge, some animals were placed near a letter based on scientific name, group, or category. Inspired by the exhibit “Extreme Mammals, the base of the tree reflected the rich diversity of mammals: land, air, sea, as well as past and present. The invitation to embark on an alphabetical journey and name as many origami models as possible became a unique, entertaining, and interactive event for visitors and museum staff alike.
• 2008 Holiday Tree — Folding the Museum. Tree preparation started in early spring and took many months of planning and folders' generosity. The actual physical setup took two weeks, with the help of several museum departments, our administrator, and a handful of origami volunteers. The Origami Holiday Tree has been extremely well received by museum people and the general public. For example, the museum's viewing public numbered 23,000 on December 28 and 26,000 on December 29. Even at 3PM, January 2, lines for entrance went outside and around the street for a short musem visit before closing.
• 2007 Holiday Tree — Fantastic Creatures: Mythic and Real. This year's theme was designed to complement the current exhibit at the museum called "Mythic Creatures." The tree featured mermaids, Pegasus's, unicorns, and lots of dragons including a large three-headed dragon that was wrapped around the tree (made from gum-wrapper chain units.) Thanks to our tree designer, Sok Song, the Tree Committee and to all the volunteers who made the tree possible. Thanks also to those who responded to the "Annual Gift" request to make the many folded dragons that were given to the public at the opening of the tree. (A complete list of all volunteers appeared in Issue 98 of The Paper.)
• 2006 Holiday Tree — Origami Safari. Inspired by the rich diversity of animals and dioramas in the Museum, the origami artists who designed this unique tree selected a safari theme. From aardvarks to zebras, the range of artistically folded animals-many of which have been folded from a single sheet of paper-celebrates a journey of exploration and discovery. Atop the tree, there was a compass to guide visitors on their safari.
• 2001 - 2005 Holiday Tree. See photos of previous trees back to 2001.

Organizing your Own Holiday Tree

Ever thought about creating your own origami Holiday Tree? OrigamiUSA member June Sakamoto has written up a set of guidelines to help get you started! Download them here. If you have an online gallery of photos of your holiday tree, send us a link and we'll post it below.