COEUR d'ALENE - At the 26th annual Festival of Trees, one tree will stand a chicken above the rest.

The "Art Expressions" tree will be decorated with removable pieces of art from 10 local and world-renowned artists. Rather than adhering to a Christmas theme, the masterpieces on the tree will contain a variety of artistic expression which can be enjoyed throughout the whole year.

"And the piece that's going to be on the top of the tree, I understand, is a chicken," said Deanna Goodlander, who is organizing the "Art Expressions" tree with artist Terry Lee.

"We left it up to the artists," Lee said.

Lee and Goodlander said the unique tree-topper will be contributed by artists Allen and Mary Dee Dodge.

"It'll be colorful," Lee said.

The artistic tree has been decorated with hand-painted ornaments in past years, but this year will have individual 6-by-12-inch pieces in frames as well as sculptures representing what the artists do best. This year's artist tree is value: more than $10,000.

"There's just a lot of gold and glitter. We went with a gold-toned theme," Goodlander said. "The frames of the paintings are gold."

Lee, who is a wildlife artist, contributed a bear painting to accompany the variety of art the tree will contain. He said the contributing artists were excited to participate in the project.

"From my perspective, these are some very talented artists. One guy is super famous in the Western art field," Lee said. "These are artists that want to support the community and this is their way of contributing. These are fine, original oil paintings. It's fine art. If a person took them off of the tree, they could hang them in their home all year long, forever, and then put them back on the tree the next year."

Along with the Dodges and Lee, contributing artists include Bob Krogle, Rhea Giffin, Kathy Gale, C. Michael Dudash, Teresa McHugh, Kyle Paliotto and Stephen Shortridge.

The "Art Expressions" tree is sponsored by the Dining Divas, a social and charitable women's organization to which Goodlander belongs. She said creating the tree is just a small way for the group to say "thank you" to Kootenai Health. The Festival of Trees serves as an annual event held in support of the Kootenai Health Foundation, which funds several projects and services for the hospital.

Goodlander said she is especially thankful to the hospital because, "quite frankly, they've saved my life.

"I was there at the right time and my heart stopped," she said. "I've always felt very appreciative and very grateful that we have a facility in this community that does this kind of work, that gives the kind of service they give, that could ask the taxpayers for money and doesn't."

The Festival of Trees begins Nov. 28 with the Friday d'Lights event from 5-8 p.m. in The Coeur d'Alene Resort, where guests can view dozens of decorated and themed trees and enjoy live music from local musicians. There is no admission charge for Friday d'Lights, or for Family Day on Nov. 30.

The Festival also features the Senior Social and Festival Gala Nov. 29, and the fashion shows Dec. 1.

Ticket and other information: kh.org/foundation