Troutdale, OR

This is not a tree carved into a likeness of Jerry Garcia -- deceased frontman of the Grateful Dead -- it's a bronze sculpture of a tree that looks like Jerry Garcia. A gnarled, twisted, imaginative tree.

In the fall of 1998, while working on murals at Edgefield, artist Joe Cotter was asked to create “an organic Jerry Garcia” sculpture, something that would blend with Edgefield’s grounds. Cotter, who is admittedly “not good on deadlines,” let the request languish and nearly lost the assignment. That was enough to light a fire – Cotter, a former Dead follower, knew he could not let this opportunity pass.

When he finally created a concept for the piece, it was summarily approved. The next five months were devoted to crafting the installation, a work that holds much nostalgia for those familiar with the Grateful Dead – terrapins, skulls, alligators, roses, moon craters, the bearded visage of Jerry himself blend with the deadened tree-limb architecture. “You can see that he is picking the brain of the skull that forms the body of his guitar,” explains Cotter. “And his right arm and fingers of his left hand are missing, gone – dead, not coming back.” The sculpture was a true labor of love – Joe’s partner Kolieha Bush contributed a lovely set of hands, and Joe’s young sons Leon and Noah added a snake and a sea turtle.

The sculpture was originally intended to house a rose bush that would weave in and out of its limbs; however, nature prevailed when the plant did not flourish. Instead, visitors themselves imbue the piece with life, leaving bouquets of flowers, lit candles, old ticket stubs and the occasional illicit offering smoldering in one of Jerry’s many nooks and crannies.

Deadheads gather at the site every summer to celebrate Jerry's birthday.