Bay Area artist uses museum's hurricane debris to build Christmas trees, highlight resilience

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Published  December 23, 2024 1:19pm EST
FOX 13 News
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Artist uses storm debris to make Christmas trees

FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia reports on a Pinellas County artist using hurricane debris to create Christmas trees for the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum in Pass-a-Grille.

The Brief

    • Three trees made from hurricane debris sit outside the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum in Pass-a-Grille.
    • Artist Gary Ludwig is behind the creation, which the museum commissioned.
    • Ludwig says the trees tell a story of resilience and represent the community’s strength in the rebuilding process.

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. - Three trees sit outside the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum in Pass-a-Grille, but they aren’t exactly your typical Christmas decorations.

The museum – which is located in a former church built in 1917 – suffered significant damage in the recent hurricanes.

Local artist Gary Ludwig recognized that a story could be told using those broken pieces.

Three trees made from hurricane debris sit outside the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum in Pass-a-Grille.

"The fence posts were central to me. I thought, 'well, that looks kind of like a tree. It's got a point on top,'" Ludwig said. "And the fencing itself had been broken in places, so I used the fences for the leaves and some of the flooring for the leaves."

Ludwig used the museum’s debris to construct three trees, which sit outside the museum and are now wrapped in lights and decorated with shells. Ludwig told FOX 13 the museum commissioned the work so it could continue its traditional tree lighting, an event that was held earlier this month.

For Ludwig, the trees tell a story of resilience and represent the community’s strength in the rebuilding process.

"We have a lot of destruction. A lot of people lost everything," Ludwig said. "But I think there's hope in the fact that you can take debris and make something beautiful out of it."

The museum remains closed after the hurricanes, but expects to reopen some time next year as restoration plans are still in the works.

For more information on the museum, click here.

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