Memorial Park and Bear Hollow Zoo

The eight foot tall, three-sided animal themed metal sculpture entitled “Serengeti Dreams” was created by local artist Harold Rittenberry, Jr.

The art was a donation through the Athens Area Community Foundation by donors, Dan and Sally Wyche Coenen, to the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government to be on public display at Bear Hollow Zoo in Memorial Park.

The goal of the project is to bring public art to the zoo to enhance the enjoyment and learning of park visitors, particularly because the zoo had not previously offer any significant pieces of public art. Additionally, the project promotes public art and local artists in the Athens area, and recognizes the accomplishments and career of Harold Rittenberry, Jr.

Using his knowledge of metal working from his time in the U.S. Navy, Rittenberry began welding large sculptures out of mostly found and often rusted metal. The classically untrained Rittenberry built a reputation as one of the South’s most prominent sculptors after he started exhibiting his work in the early 1990s, when the folksy, story-filled rusty menagerie that populates the front lawn of his home drew the art world's attention.

Mr. Rittenberry has a number of works in the Folk Art Park in Atlanta. In Athens, he has created the Brooklyn Cemetery Gate for an African-American cemetery behind Clarke Middle School. His work is featured in the collections of the Georgia Museum of Art and numerous patrons.