Page 198 - South Mississippi Living - August, 2015

KATRINA ANNIVERSARY it’s miller time
CARVINGOUTANICHE Marlin Miller’s Gulf Coast wood carvings get a needed facelift
The Marlin Miller sculptures along Highway 90 are enduring tributes to the resilience of Coast residents. Following the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, Miller, a resident of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., made numerous volunteer
trips to Mississippi using his talent as a chain saw sculptor to carve standing dead trees into shapes with a coastal theme.
A year or so after Katrina, Biloxi hired a Mississippi chainsaw artist to craft marine figures from some of
the standing dead oak trees that were killed by the saltwater inundation of the storm surge. Miller
approached the city volunteering to sculpt a tree or two to return a favor for Mississippi Coast
residents aiding his hometown after Hurricane Ivan in 2004. His commitment grew and
he returned many weekends, eventually sculpting several dozen trees.
Recently, Miller and his son, Preston, were in Biloxi leading the restoration
of the
sculptures located in Biloxi. In conjunction with the Ohr- O’Keefe Museum’s Katrina +10 exhibition, the restoration was sponsored by corporate underwriters. Corporate sponsors included Treasure Bay Casino Resort, Oscar Renda Contracting and S. J. Lewis Construction. Assisting the Millers were volunteers with Hands On Mississippi who worked at the base of sculptures installing tar and concrete.
“We wanted to freshen up the sculptures, clean up some of the dirt and bring them back to life,” Marlin Miller said. “The city then sprayed them with a sealant that will help keep the bugs away. The sculptures are rock solid and we hope to get many more years from them.”
Treasure Bay CEO Susan Varnes said, “We definitely wanted to be involved in this restoration and are honored to play a role. It was uplifting to see something beautiful come out of something so dark and sad. It’s very meaningful to all of us.”
Oscar Renda Contracting and S.J. Lewis Construction are rebuilding the infrastructure in East Biloxi. Project Manager Tony Morrow said, “We are currently tearing up every street in East Biloxi and wanted to also make our mark above ground. We know how important these sculptures are to this community.”
Miller’s work and story have been featured in national news broadcasts and in publications around the world.
story by Lynn Lofton photos by John Stricklin
198 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • August 2015
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