Updated
Updated · stereogum.com · Jun 15
Oliver Tree Interview Reveals Will Sending Assets to Artists After 6 Deaths in Helicopter Collision
Updated
Updated · stereogum.com · Jun 15

Oliver Tree Interview Reveals Will Sending Assets to Artists After 6 Deaths in Helicopter Collision

2 articles · Updated · stereogum.com · Jun 15

Summary

  • A Zach Sang interview clip recorded in April spread online within an hour of confirmation that Oliver Tree and five others died in a helicopter collision.
  • In the clip, Tree says his estate would fund “Doctor Oliver Tree’s Art Grants for Baby Geniuses,” with money directed to future artists rather than family members.
  • He says the foundation would use interest and residual income from his music and art, with grants meant for producing work — hiring help and renting gear, not tuition or equipment purchases.
  • Tree also says a committee of his collaborators would vote on recipients, framing the fund as a way for his work to keep supporting physical art-making after his death.

Insights

With his fortune funding a new foundation, who will be the first artists to receive Oliver Tree's posthumous grants?
Was Oliver Tree's eerie final interview a tragic premonition or simply his last piece of performance art?
What fatal error caused two helicopters to collide over Rio, claiming the life of Oliver Tree and five others?