21 Years after Katrina Gulf Coast tree sculptures keep stories of resilience alive

SOUTH MISSISSIPPI (WXXV) — For nearly 20 years, sculptures of marine life carved from standing dead trees along Highway 90 have served as a reminder of the Gulf Coast community’s ability to overcome disaster.

As August 29 marks the 21st anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the works of art have had a lasting impact and are now one of the most visited attractions along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

“You know, what was gonna be one or two trees ended up being a three year project that I ended up carving about 50 trees,” said Sculptor Marlin Miller. “If I could give them a second life, I thought I would try to do that.”

The Katrina sculpture project began in Biloxi in January 2007, when former Mayor A.J. Holloway and public affairs manager Vincent Creel hired Mississippi Chainsaw Artist Dayton Scoggins to transform trees killed by Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge into works of art.

Scoggins created five sculptures featuring seagulls, pelicans, and dolphins, inspiring Florida Sculptor Marlin Miller to offer his time and talent to carry the project forward free of charge. This was his way of giving back to Biloxians who had helped his Fort Walton Beach community recover after Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

“So, I just thought it would be a neat gesture to go over and offer to carve one of the trees, and people were stopping and talking to me and expressing how important that was for them,” he said. “It was a project that ended up being a lot bigger and take a lot more time than what I had originally thought about.”

Miller spent countless hours over the course of three years carving trees from New Orleans to Ocean Springs — a project he says he never expected to become as big as it did, but what impacted him most throughout those years was the support he received from the community.

“I had so much feedback from so many people that it just empowered me to just wanna keep coming back,” said Miller. “Some of the work was being done 30 feet in the air, and I’d be up there for a long time, and I’d come down after a few hours, and I’d find little ceramic tea sets someone left me as a gift, or jars of jam and nice notes. Just incredible how that was received. And I just heard from a lot of people that, that was the catalyst that really inspired them to not feel defeated and do the rebuild that they were about to undertake.”

Twenty-one years after Katrina, the scars of the storm are fading, but the stories carved into these trees remain.

Miller says some of the sculptures haven’t stood the test of time, but he hopes the ones that remain can be preserved for years to come, keeping alive a piece of the Coast’s history, resilience, and recovery.

“I think eventually mother nature is gonna reclaim, as she reclaims everything. Some of the sculptures I did are actually extinct now, but I hope they stay as long as they can,” Miller said.

Today, Miller still makes his way back to the Coast with his wife, Rene, often stopping to admire the sculptures that remain. What started as a way to give new life to trees destroyed by Katrina has now become a part of the landscape, giving the Coast a way to remember what was lost, while celebrating everything that came after.

To learn more about the Katrina sculptures or to view additional photos and videos, click here.