Hidden Oaks celebrates 50th anniversary with chainsaw tree sculpture

Kevin Holland of Friends of Hidden Oaks Nature Center uncovers the tree sculpture. [Photos by the Park Authority]

The tree sculpture at the Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Annandale created by chainsaw artist Andrew Mallon was revealed at the center’s 50th anniversary celebration in October.

Mallon transformed a tulip popular damaged by lightning into a work of art featuring the woodland creatures that live in the park around the nature center.

The Friends of Hidden Oaks Nature Center and the Fairfax County Park Foundation helped raise more than $6,000 to fund the sculpture and a nearby bench. A Mastenbrook Matching Grant from the Park Authority provided additional funding. Local donors selected an individual animal on the sculpture to sponsor.

The anniversary celebration included performances by Belvedere Elementary School’s fifth-grade chorus, the Vienna School of Rock, and the Fairfax Choral Society’s Children’s Choir.

There also were tree plantings, monarch butterfly tagging, a reptile presentation, and remarks by Mason Supervisor Penny Gross and Park Authority Director Kirk Kincannon. Alex Robbins, from the office of Rep. Gerald Connolly presented a copy of a commemoration of the anniversary in the Congressional Record.