Big and Bold: Downed Rivermouth Cottonwood Gets New Life

Scott Chupp has had his artwork in plenty of locations, but never one quite like this.

The Traverse City native and city public works employee recently finished carving the twin stumps of a huge cottonwood tree that towered over the mouth of the Boardman River for decades. The tree, estimated to be around 80 years old, was cut down earlier this year after it finally died.

Now Chupp, who spent more than two weeks carving a lake trout and sturgeon into the stumps, beams with pride about bringing new life to the old tree. His carving work is now finished; all that’s left is application of a protective coating.

“It’s pretty awesome, and I was really honored to be asked to do it,” Chupp tells The Ticker. “I’ve taken my grandkids down here to show them. It’s just really cool to have something like this in a location like this – the location itself is such a jewel.”

City parks supervisor and arborist Matt Bright asked Chupp, who was known for his artwork (carvings, tattoos, drawings and more), to complete the project. It was decided to feature native fish, considering the stump’s location. The final product doesn’t quite match Chupp’s initial drawings, but that’s just how it goes sometimes.

“In any carving project, the wood is going to dictate what you do,” he says. “You can sketch until you’re blue in the face, but then you get into the project and there’s soft spots here, weak spots there. It’s kind of a big improv.”

The fish aren’t overly detailed, but that’s also by design.

“The whole idea with what I did here was big and bold,” he says. “You’re not going to see the detail from the road, so I went for boldness.”

He started with a chainsaw before working with smaller tools to complete the carving. His DPW coworkers and other city staffers hauled off seven one-ton trucks of wood scrap during the process and helped in other ways, Chupp says.

“It was a group effort,” he says.

When the tree was removed in July, Bright instructed crews to leave the large stump for two reasons. The first was that removing such a large stump and its root system so close to the river could destabilize the bank and cause erosion issues. But the second was that he envisioned the possibility for just such a carving.

Now that the carving is finished, Bright plans to have crews turn their attention to the area around the tree and make it shine.

“Fall is our busiest time, but we’d like to really spruce that area up down there around the base of the tree, trim some vegetation back, really make it more of a user-friendly park now that we have that sculpture there,” he tells The Ticker.

City parks Superintendent Michelle Hunt feels the carving is a nice ending for what had become a beloved natural landmark for many people.

“I think it’s going to be something that people stop and look at and take pictures with, both tourists and people who live here and have known that tree their whole lives,” she tells The Ticker. “So it’s really special.”

It’s also nice that a city employee was chosen for this work, Hunt says.

“We have a lot of talent amongst our staff, and this shines a light on the fact that we are more than just our jobs,” she says. “It’s really nice to be able to highlight when someone has some artistic ability like that.”

Frank Dituri, the city’s director of public services and Chupp’s boss, expressed similar sentiments.

“Scott’s friendly attitude, artistic talent, and incredible work ethic continue to enhance the beauty of our city,” he tells The Ticker. “Whether it’s carving wood or painting snowplow blades for Halloween and Christmas events, Scott brings joy to the team and consistently does things in a good way.”