Ruth DeYoung Kohler II<\/a> found in supporting the arts and education, often projects that are unconventional. Yoho and Kohler agreed to invest $1 million.<\/p>\n ![\"NO.chauvingardens.ADV.110.jpg\"](\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\")
<\/p>\n
Bennett and Colin, left to right, walk around at the Chauvin Sculpture Garden in Chauvin, La., Sunday, June 28, 2026.<\/p>\n
STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing back, it is a success story,\u201d Yoho said. \u201cIt\u2019s inspiring kids, young artists, families.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Ida hit in 2021, the site fell into ruins. The garden flooded, sculptures shattered.<\/p>\n
Contractors estimated it would take nearly $500,000 to repair, which neither the professors nor the university had.<\/p>\n
LaFleur called the Kohler Foundation.<\/p>\n
Although Ruth Kohler had died a year before the hurricane, her legacy fund has given hundreds of thousands to the Chauvin restoration effort, LaFleur said.<\/p>\n
No lawyers. No contracts. The work commenced with a written description and a handshake.<\/p>\n
Bringing it back<\/p>\n
Elliott, a skilled sculptor, presented a master plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were all pretty competent artists,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s just one of those things where the almost coincidence fell in place to make sure that it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Using cranes, scaffolding and hoists, they drilled rebar into concrete and metal anchors into the ground. Then they repainted each sculpture. Suspended sculptures were secured and reinstalled.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One of the the damaged works of art damaged during Hurricane Ida in 2021 at the Chauvin Sculpture Garden.<\/p>\n
PROVIDED PHOTO<\/p>\n
\u201cI’d be damned if he didn\u2019t do it,\u201d Siporski said of Elliott\u2019s plan. \u201cIf you would\u2019ve seen what it took to do it, you would have said it was impossible to repair, and he did it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kimberly Arp, a printmaker and former art professor at Louisiana State University who joined Elliott and Siporski in the effort, said he had never worked with concrete figures. A sculpture of a large eagle had face-planted into the ground, with loose rebar hanging out. Fixing it was one of the group\u2019s biggest feats.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of magnificent that it was able to get back to its original state,\u201d Arp said. \u201cWe are probably most proud we overcame that and got it back up right and in place.\u201d<\/p>\n
The work was finished in April, in time for the region\u2019s annual \u201cBlessing of the Fleet,\u201d a tradition rooted in prayers for a successful fishing season.<\/p>\n
As for Hill, stories vary on whether he is aware of any of this. Some say he has been invited to come back and finish his work. \u201cHe just chose not to,\u201d said Andrew Cuneo, who grew up two houses down.<\/p>\n
Who was \u2014 or is? \u2014 Kenny Hill?<\/p>\n
The artist is almost as enigmatic as his creations, but this much is known, or believed to be known:<\/p>\n
Kenny Hill was born in the 1950s, although documentation is missing. He was raised Pentecostal and left his wife and kids before he moved to Chauvin, according to the artist docents and physical records. He began sculpting after the death of his mother, Dovey Hill, who loved rose bushes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One of the many self-portraits of Kenny Hill stands at the Chauvin Sculpture Garden in Chauvin, La., Sunday, June 28, 2026.<\/p>\n
STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK<\/p>\n
In the 1980s and into the \u201890s, he spent his free time building this other world on the small lot he rented. He used one 5-gallon bucket of homemade concrete at a time. He used leftover, mismatched paint from his friend\u2019s paint store, metal mesh, iron rods and miscellaneous objects. Textured details came from a fork or spoon.<\/p>\n
In the middle of his garden, an angel carries an hourglass made from two Crystal Hot Sauce bottle necks cut in half. Behind her, there\u2019s a sculpture of Hill carrying a large wooden cross. He is shackled to a boat anchor behind him.<\/p>\n
A dark ash path twists through the garden toward a flowered area. A group of tortured souls weep and crawl toward a rainbow-colored road. Angels are suspended above.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery single person on this path is getting touched by an angel in some kind of way,\u201d LaFleur said.<\/p>\n
Another sculpture depicts Hill stepping from darkness to light, one leg painted black and the other in color. Elliot said he thinks Hill is time-traveling to salvation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gary LaFleur points to an old photograph of Kenny Hill at the Chauvin Sculpture Garden in Chauvin, La., Sunday, June 28, 2026.<\/p>\n
STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people say he was crazy. I don\u2019t think so. It\u2019s way too rational and thought out,\u201d Elliott said.<\/p>\n
Hill built his house off the base of a trailer and collected wood along the bayou.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can kind of tell that it was made with whatever he had on hand, you know? But it was a sizable house that was right here,\u201d Cuneo said, pointing between two oleander trees.<\/p>\n
In January 2000, Hill got an eviction notice. He had a week to vacate.<\/p>\n
With only the clothes on his back, Hill left his magical world behind without saying goodbye.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One of the many self-portraits of Kenny Hill stands at the Chauvin Sculpture Garden in Chauvin, La., Sunday, June 28, 2026.<\/p>\n
STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK<\/p>\n
\u201cHe literally walked away from the garden. People saw him walking down the road that day and offered him a ride. He said, \u2018No, I’m walking,\u2019\u201d said LaFleur.<\/p>\n
Perhaps he walked all the way to Arkansas to be with his brother. He may be in Baton Rouge with family. But no one at the garden seems to know exactly where he is now. (No one seems to need to find out either.)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis labor of love is a gift to the people on the bayou, but it\u2019s a double back gift to me,\u201d Hill said, according to a Vieux Carr\u00e9 Courier newspaper clip from 1993. He hoped to \u201cwake the brains of people looking at it.\u201d<\/p>\n
One recent visitor, Amanda Voisin, said, \u201cIt looks like an outlet for a lot of pain.\u201d At the same time, she said it is a great place to bring her kids to explore another world.<\/p>\n
Beckoning visitors<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s never been better,\u201d Siporski said.<\/p>\n
Busloads of visitors have traveled from faraway places to see the sculpture garden \u2014 China, Denmark, Brazil. \u201cIt would take an hour to list all the places,\u201d Elliott said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Eliza, Rylee and Colin, left to right, look up after entering the lighthouse at the Chauvin Sculpture Garden in Chauvin, La., Sunday, June 28, 2026.<\/p>\n
STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK<\/p>\n
LaFleur occasionally guides visitors. One Sunday afternoon, wearing a baseball cap to shield his face from the sun, he walked with children and their mothers who stopped by for a visit. He crouched down to point to a hidden symbol.<\/p>\n
Perhaps one of the most intriguing sights of the garden isn\u2019t a sculpture. It is the layout itself. From an aerial view, nine circles, some big, some small, are arranged in a particular order, like a map. Tiny versions of the layout are sprinkled throughout the garden.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A sculpture wears wire glasses at the Chauvin Sculpture Garden in Chauvin, La., Sunday, June 28, 2026.<\/p>\n
STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s for us to decide what it means,\u201d LaFleur said. Some believe the symbol is the order of the planets or an astrological prophecy. Perhaps it\u2019s the celestial alignment to a Second Coming, said local Maddison Scott, who works as an artist docent.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people think he was a weird guy that was building sculptures. I just think he was trying to get through his life, trying to get through his struggles,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
Raegan Boudreaux, who grew up down the street, said that some of the kids she rode with on the school bus believed that the sculptures would come to life at night.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe energy depends on where you are. It is both heavy and peaceful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Siporski said that each time he visits, he sees something new.<\/p>\n
Chauvin Sculpture Garden is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 5337 Bayouside Drive in Chauvin. Info: (985) 594-2546.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHAUVIN \u2014 When Hurricane Ida\u2019s 150 mph winds ripped through this small Cajun town five years ago, dozens…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88,8803],"class_list":["post-823235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-hardwall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}