An old oak’s rebirth
The majestic oak trees on Bayou St. John in Mid-City offer shade for picnickers, casual fishermen, musicians, and those who come to watch the Mardi Gras Indians dance and strut along the bayou on Super Sunday. Hurricane Katrina took out some of the oaks but the one that was closest the Orleans Avenue Bridge near the south end of the bayou managed to survive—only to be killed by lightning during Hurricane Isaac in 2012.
Bayou Boogaloo, a free local music and art festival held on the bayou every May, decided to try and give the tree new life. Enter sculptor Marlin Miller, a chainsaw artist from Florida who sells wooden sculptures in galleries across the country. His work ranges in size (and price) from small to large (and from hundreds to thousands of dollars). Miller’s true passion, however, is creating carvings from dead trees, resurrecting them as pieces of art. After witnessing Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, Miller carved animals indigenous to the Gulf Coast into trees along U.S. 90 through Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi. Bayou Boogaloo contacted Miller, whose chainsaw company pays for his expenses, but who donates his time for free, to see if he could do something with the oak on the bayou. Miller receives constant requests but has strict criteria for a tree: it must be a large oak or a hardwood, on public property in a visible area, and—most important—it must have emotion. Fortunately, the semi-charred tree on the bayou checked all those boxes.
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Address On the lakeside bank of Bayou St. John, adjacent to the Orleans Avenue Bridge | Tip Walk over to NOLA Til Ya Die (3536 Toulouse St), a local clothing and accessories company founded after Katrina to represent locals’ commitment to New Orleans. Pick up a shirt, sticker, flask, or flag to show your commitment to the Big Easy.
In May 2013, Miller (battling against sometimes uncooperative weather) carved symbols and icons of New Orleans into the hardy trunk and branches still standing: a large pelican, various fish and birds, musical instruments, a prominent fleur de lis, and a Mardi Gras Indian who keeps a watchful eye on the street traffic on the bridge. The Chainsaw Tree may no longer offer shade, but it still offers a great view.
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