Grant to help Nicholls repair Hurricane Ida's damage to landmark Chauvin Sculpture Garden

Keith Magill, The Courier
·2 min read
Artist Raegan Boudreaux sweeps up hurricane debris Saturday at the Chauvin Sculpture Garden on Oct. 23, 2021, about three weeks after the site was damaged by Hurricane Ida.
Artist Raegan Boudreaux sweeps up hurricane debris Saturday at the Chauvin Sculpture Garden on Oct. 23, 2021, about three weeks after the site was damaged by Hurricane Ida.
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Repairs to the Chauvin Sculture Garden, a local landmark damaged by Hurricane Ida, have received a boost in the form of a $75,000 grant.

The Nicholls State University Foundation has received the grant from the Ruth DeYoung Kohler Legacy Fund. It's administered by Ruth Arts, a national philanthropic group based in Milwaukee.

Aside from storm repairs, the money will also be used for Nicholls' continuous commitment to keep the garden open for visitors, Gary LaFleur, R.E. Miller Endowed Professor of Honors Studies and director of the Center for Bayou Studies, said in a news release.

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“This generous donation is a fervent reminder that Nicholls has an international reputation for helping rescue, restore and maintain the world-renown visionary art of Kenny Hill that can be viewed at the Chauvin Sculpture Garden," LaFleur said. "The Chauvin Sculpture Garden has helped to put Nicholls on the map within Louisiana, across the nation and across the globe as a university that is committed to conservation and interpretation of visionary folk art.”

Owned by Nicholls, the garden was created by self-taught artist Kenny Hill when he moved to Chauvin in 1988. A brick layer by trade, Hill created more than 100 concrete statues along Bayou Little Caillou before walking away from his art and his home about a decade later. Labeled a recluse, he left no trace of his whereabouts, but about 10,000 visitors each year visit the menagerie of angels, Cajuns, self portraits and other figures he left behind.

Ida damaged several of Hill’s pieces as the Category 4 hurricane barreled through Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes Aug. 29, 2021.

Displays lay damaged Friday Sept. 10, 2021, at the Chauvin Sculpture Garden, nearly two weeks after Hurricane Ida hit the area.
Displays lay damaged Friday Sept. 10, 2021, at the Chauvin Sculpture Garden, nearly two weeks after Hurricane Ida hit the area.

The garden, at 5337 Bayouside Drive, is home to the Nicholls Art Studio, gifted by the Kohler Foundation. The mission of the garden and art studio is to educate the public on the value of folk art.

The Chauvin Sculpture Garden is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Sunday. The Nicholls Art Studio is free and open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment. If you would like to make a donation, call Nicholls' Division of Art at 448-4597. To learn more, visit nicholls.edu/folkartcenter/park.html.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Grant to help repair Hurricane Ida's damage to Chauvin Sculpture Garden