Cleanup is underway in Garland’s Western Heights neighborhood. But rather than remove countless Arizona Ash trees killed by a winter storm several years ago, Kevin Roach has been busy enhancing them.
“Sometimes, it’s just a matter of seeing whether you can get it out of the tree. Sometimes it is unique, so you can kind of see things in it,” said Roach.
Saturday morning, he worked for four hours with a chainsaw and artistic skill to carve dead and chopped trees into something new.
“It’s creating something good out of something bad. All of these trees are dying in the neighborhood, so now they’re creating a sculpture trail, and that’s for the public to enjoy,” he said.
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Roach, a chainsaw artist out of Decatur, began work in the neighborhood two months ago at the request and expense of the city’s Office of Vitality, part of a year-long commitment to spur physical and social change through reinvestment.
Thus far, Roach has transformed what some saw as eyesores into a proud peacock, a regal rooster, and a loveable pup.
“It’s really cool. There’s actually a cat that we saw first,” said Anne Kitchens.
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Kitchens and her daughter Madison were among the countless passersby who’ve slowed to take it all in.
“It just brings happiness. Instead of a dead tree, it’s a pretty little sculpture,” she said.
Saturday’s masterpiece involving some honey-crazed bears came at the request of the home’s owner.
On Sunday, Roach will begin on the next, whittling his way through requests, helping the neighborhood take on new life through art.
“To me, that’s a win,” he said.
The projects are funded by Garland’s “Where the Heart is” program. It continues taking applications from residents with qualifying trees in the public right of way.
