Shriners Children’s Hospital of Portland

PORTLAND, OR. – January 7, 2026 – Dave Creek’s Traveling Treehouses is pleased to announce the continuation of its partnership with Shriners Children’s through a new year-long installation at Shriners Children’s Portland, beginning January 7, 2026.

The bonsai treehouse exhibit will be on display throughout the 2026 calendar year, welcoming patients, families, and staff into a world of imagination and wonder.

Dave Creek’s Traveling Treehouses has a longstanding relationship with Shriners Children’s, having previously installed the exhibit at Shriners Children’s Southern California. Most recently, the collection has been on public display at Pacific Bonsai Museum in Federal Way, Washington. The Portland installation represents a thoughtful return to a hospital setting and a meaningful expansion of the partnership into the Pacific Northwest.

The exhibit features the handcrafted bonsai treehouse creations of the late artist Dave Creek, who spent more than 17 years building the intricate works by hand. Dave was also the lead character designer for the Emmy Award-winning animated series Bob’s Burgers. Dave’s longtime dream was to place his treehouses inside children’s hospitals, especially inpatient settings, where children and families often face long days filled with uncertainty. He envisioned the treehouses as small worlds of refuge – places where a child could pause, look closely, and feel momentarily removed from fear, pain, or waiting. With this installation at Shriners Children’s Portland, that vision is now fully realized.

The treehouse collection will be installed within Shriners Children’s Portland, allowing patients and their families to encounter the artwork as part of their everyday experience. Each treehouse invites close exploration, revealing tiny details, hidden scenes, and whimsical storytelling elements designed to engage viewers of all ages.

Shriners Children’s Portland serves children from across the Pacific Northwest, the United States, and around the world, providing specialized pediatric care regardless of a family’s ability to pay. That global reach makes the hospital an ideal partner for this installation and closely aligns with the mission of Dave Creek’s Traveling Treehouses to create broad and lasting impact.

In conjunction with the exhibit, Dave Creek’s Traveling Treehouses will also introduce its Spanish-language edition of the children’s book, Dave Creek’s Traveling Treehouses, expanding access for Spanish-speaking patients and families and reinforcing the organization’s commitment to inclusive storytelling within hospital environments.

“We are honored to continue our relationship with Shriners Children’s and to bring Dave’s treehouses to Shriners Children’s Portland,” said Aleasha Ramsay, spokesperson for Dave Creek’s Traveling Treehouses. “Dave believed deeply in the power of wonder. It’s been remarkable to watch this exhibition move from a children’s hospital, to a museum, and now find its way back, this time to an inpatient children’s hospital, where imagination has the greatest opportunity to do what it does best.”

Shriners Children’s Portland is known for its compassionate, family-centered approach to pediatric specialty care, including treatment for orthopedic conditions and cleft lip and palate. The hospital’s commitment to caring for the whole child makes it a natural setting for integrating art into the healing environment.

The year-long installation reflects both organizations’ shared belief that creativity, storytelling, and imagination can play an important role in pediatric care spaces.

For more information about Dave Creek’s Traveling Treehouses, please visit www.davecreekstravelingtreehouses.org or contact info@davecreekstravelingtreehouses.org.

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About Dave Creek’s Traveling Treehouses

Dave Creek’s Traveling Treehouses is a nonprofit organization established in memory of artist Dave Creek. The organization brings Dave’s handcrafted bonsai treehouse collection to children’s hospitals and public spaces, honoring his legacy while offering moments of wonder, comfort, and imagination to children and families.

About Shriners Children’s

Shriners Children’s is changing lives every day through innovative pediatric specialty care, world-class research and outstanding medical education regardless of ability to pay. Shriners Children’s has treated more than 1.5 million children from more than 170 countries over the last 100 years.

For more information, visit shrinerschildrens.org.