Houston Needs Tree Stump Carvers

by Robert Boyd



Lion King

I've discussed the tree-stump carvings in Galveston in a couple of posts in the past. In brief, Ike killed some 4000 trees on the island, and three wood carvers decided to turn some of the stumps into sculptures, such as the one above. I just got a new car yesterday and decided to drive down to Galveston for a shake-down cruise. As I drove aimlessly through Galveston's streets, I kept my eyes open for tree stump sculptures. I found a few, and it occurred to me that a Google map of them would be useful. So I have started one:

View Galveston Stump Art in a larger map

Now there are at least 35 of these sculptures. So my plan is to add to this map on subsequent trips to Galveston. And if any of you readers want to add to the map, be my guest. Ultimately, I'd like it to be a useful resource for folks visiting Galveston, exploring it by car or by bicycle.



Lighthouse and Dolphin

Here are two that were in front of one house. They must have been somewhat small trees--the artist had to come up with highly narrow, vertical sculptural solutions for them.



Spongebob

I'd like to know more about the sculptures. Did the property owners pick the subjects? Or was that decision made in collaboration with the artist(s)? Why Spongebob?



Alligator

This Alligator was at the same house as the Spongebob, as was the next sculpture. Obviously this is an exception to the "stump" genre since it was carved from a felled trunk.



Dog treeing a cat and a squirrel

This is another exception because this tree isn't dead, nor was it an Ike victim. According to a neighbor who I spoke to, this tree had been struck by lightning in the 1940s, leaving part of it dead. The sculpture is quite ingenious--it uses the dead parts of the tree to depict something that might happen on a tree--a dog chasing a cat and squirrel up a tree.



Dog treeing a cat and a squirrel (detail)



Dog treeing a cat and a squirrel (reverse side)

One thing that is missing here is credits for the art. According to the Chronicle, three artists are responsible:  Earl Jones (from Galveston--I know he did the magnificent Jack Johnson carving), Jim Phillips from Houston, and Dayle Lewis from Indiana. But I'd really like to know who did what. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any contact information or websites for Jones or Phillips.

The thing is, we need to contact these guys. The drought has killed an estimated 1 in ten trees in the Houston area, out of an estimated 660 million trees (!). It was great that Galveston turned tragedy into art, and I think the same could be done here--if we could connect the carvers to the folks with dead trees.

The Great Link Pan is Dead

by Robert Boyd

Chico and Rita finally arrives in the U.S.A.! You might recall that I wrote about Javier Mariscal's animated film Chico and Rita. That was over a year ago, and finally it is starting to appear here in festivals, although it apparently does not yet have U.S. distribution. Here's an interview with director Fernando Trueba (Mariscal's collaborator) from The Paris Review. And best of all, a trailer! (The Paris Review)


Chico and Rita trailer

Dueling Art Fairs. There is a nice long article on Glasstire about the Houston Fine Art Fair and the Texas Contemporary, two art fairs that will come to Houston in September and October respectively. Apparently, the director of the HFAF, Max Fishko, had some kind of falling out with the fair owners, quit, and started the Texas Contemporary as a competing art fair. Art fairs seem like comic book conventions for rich people. I've heard their growth has been largely about galleries needing to find new ways to compete with auction houses, which were stealing market share. The whole thing is above my pay grade. That said, if I were a young, un-galleried artist, I'd get together with some artist friends, pool our money, and rent a room or suite at the Hilton Americas during the fair. They could then have their own guerrilla mini-satellite art fair for a fraction of the cost of exhibiting at the "official" art fairs. (Glasstire)


 A freakishly realistic computer drawing of the Independent Art Collaborative

More Art in Midtown. A bunch of visual and performing arts groups--all renters and all too small to build their own space are getting together to build a shared space in Midtown. The boringly named Independent Arts Collaborative includes Diverse Works, FotoFest, the Catastrophic Theatre, Main Street Theater and Suchu Dance. The deal to finance and build it seems quite complex (and something I want to delve into in a little more detail later), and with so many stakeholders, it seems like a lot could go wrong. Still, it's exciting! It will make the whole area of Midtown from Lawndale up to the ICA one big Arts/Entertainment/Homeless Services/Rehab district! By the way, I hope they give the building a proper name. I suggest the Robert W. Boyd Center for the Arts. (CultureMap, The Houston Chronicle, Swamplot)


Earl Jones, Jack Johnson, carved wood from a tree killed by Hurricane Ike (photo by Jennifer Reynolds for the Galveston County Daily News)

One Last Scandal for the Champ, Jack Johnson. The first black heavyweight boxing champ, Jack Johnson (1878-1946), was dogged by scandal during his career. The Galveston native's whole life was a big "Fuck You" to white racist America. So a large sculpture carved by Earl Jones (who really needs a website to show off his work) from one of the oaks in Galveston that was killed by Hurricane Ike is a lovely tribute to the champ, right? But some of the neighbors don't agree. It draws too many tourists and looky-loos. And the last thing Galveston needs is tourists! Hell, if I were one of those neighbors, I'd be out there hawking Jack Johnson memorabilia! This whole carving sculptures into Ike-killed oaks is an amazing grassroots art thing in Galveston. Seriously, the city should publish a map online showing all the locations of these sculptures and promote it to tourists. I'd take that tour. (Galveston County Daily News)