Bob Coffee
Billy Goats Gruff (2012) Bronze Made possible through the NC Zoo Society
Three Billy Goats Gruff is inspired by a Norwegian fairy tale. Look closely and you’ll find the troll under the bridge.
Horace L. Farlowe
Zoological Egg Rest (1995) Georgia Marble Made possible through the NC “Art Works for State Buildings” Program
The egg, the essential symbol for life, is the form on which this graceful marble sculpture is based. Th e large smooth, elegant eggs have a strong visual impact and tactile quality. Children often sit on them or lay across them. After all, it’s not often one can hug a turtle egg.
Warren Mather & Nancy Selvage
Sonoran Snake (1993) Ceramic Tiles Sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. A. P. Anderson
Into the body of the rattlesnake is a continuously modeled terrain of rocks, plants and animals. From the tip of the tail to the distinctive triangular head of the western diamondback, desert animals roam by day and by night.
Stacy Levy
Streamlines (2004) Asphalt, Paint, Glass, Incised Granite Discs Made possible by a grant from the NC Arts Council to the Zoo’s Visiting Artist Program
As the flow of water is interrupted by the bends in a creek or rocks in a channel, it is twisted and curled into beautiful scrolling spirals called streamlines. This artwork diagrams the hydraulic flow which would be present if this path were a stream. Th e small medallions inset into the path represent the variety of micro-organisms found in a healthy stream.
Pete Beeman
Spalanzani’s Generator (2006) Painted Steel, Solar Panel and Bicycles Sponsored by Bob and Bonnie Meeker
The artist was able to marry a strong visual aesthetic, a participatory, kinetic function and two alternative power sources in Spalanzani’s Generator. The theme of alternative energy is expressed through the motion of two giant “arms,” powered by a solar panel and people peddling three bicycles. The sculpture’s link to “green” technology and the sustainable use of resources supports the Zoo’s conservation mission. The name of the sculpture comes from a 19th century opera, the Tales of Hoffman, in which a mad scientist named Spalanzani dupes the hero into falling in love with a robot woman.
Photo courtesy of: http://www.petebeeman.com/
Loui Bradley
Polar Bear Mister
George Handy
The Lion’s Pride
Made possible through the NC Zoo Society
Carl Regutti
River Frolic (2001) Bronze Dedicated to Jefferson D. Bulla, II M.D. by Lisa and Billy Pennington, Jeff and Toni Bulla and Ross Bulla
North American otters are fast, agile swimmers propelling themselves through the water by kicking webbed rear feet and moving their bodies from side to side, like a snake. Even though they can see underwater they have whiskers that help them locate prey when the water is murky. Their diet consists mainly of nongame fish, crayfish, insects and small mammals. In this graceful sculpture the artist captures a “dance” of two otters as they go after a fish.
Herb Parker
Uwharrie Vision (2003) Concrete, Steel, Soil and Plants Sponsored by the family and friends of Wescott Moser
A distant view of Harvey’s Ridge can be seen from the top of Uwharrie Vision, an earth works installation so well blended into the native landscape that it appears to be a natural outcropping.
Hellbender’s Rock
Dale Weiler
WeilerWoods for Wildlife: Dale Welier and Loti Woods
Rufus Seder
Arctic Turns (2003) Lenticular Glass Tiles Sponsored by Bob and Bonnie Meeker
Made of glass tiles, Arctic Turns features nine murals with images that appear to move as the viewer walks by them. The murals depict a variety of animal life within marine environments. They also illustrate ways in which people have historically been connected to the world’s oceans and hint at how human activities have affected ocean health. Oil rigs, a fishing trawler and Eskimo hunters are placed in the various scenes of the murals.
Linda Dixon & Drew Krouse
Junction Springs (2000) Ceramic Tiles Sponsored by Bob and Bonnie Meeker, Winn Dixie, the J. Richard & Sybel F. Hayworth Foundation, the NC Arts Council, the Ronald McDonald House Charities International and N.C. Chapter, Acme-McCrary and Sapona Foundation
In Junction Springs the artists have woven a beautiful tapestry of diverse and interconnected living things, incorporating flora and fauna from the North Carolina mountains, piedmont and coast. The overarching theme is water, a natural resource and a basic requirement for life. The mural depicts the movement of water from a mountain spring towards a river basin and finally into the sea. Rain clouds in the distance remind us that water falls, is
absorbed into the earth or flows in rivers and creeks, evaporates, forms clouds and falls again, in an endless cycle.
Elephant Tracking Game
Diane Villa and Steve Runnfeldt
Sponsored by Bob and Bonnie Meeker
Cori Cagle
and her Students from Hopewell Elementary
Music in Nature
Hong Lee
African Gates (2001) Steel Made possible through the State Repair and Renovation fund
This set of gates at the entry point to the Zoo’s Africa Region represents African forests and grasslands. Animals and plants from both kinds of habitats can be found within the gates.
Montgomery Community College Ceramics Class
Piedmont Totem (2012) Ceramics
Thrown and modeled to represent flora and fauna native to the Zoo site, the ceramic rings (each a complete artwork) embody the interdependence found in every aspect of nature. Organisms that promote decay (the centipedes, fungi, beetles) and things underwater (fish, tadpoles, water plants) are on the bottom. In the next layer the ground dwelling animals and plants can be seen (box turtle, beaver, trout lily, black snake, wild ginger, skunk and deer). Higher up on the totem are the butterflies, squirrels, oak leaves and acorns. A raccoon peeps out of a hole in a tree, bats hang among the sugar maple and muscadine vines. In the highest branches a woodpecker can be discovered along with a great horned owl, a red-tailed hawk, and finally at the top a bald eagle soars. The Piedmont Totem sculpture engages visitors, especially children, by offering a variety of native animals and plants they might see in their own back yards. Children may hunt for animals and plants they already know, learn more about those they don’t and gain a better understanding of the subtle and layered web of life.
Jim Hirschfield & Sonya Ishii
The Bird Garden (1996) Painted Steel Donated to the NC Zoo by the artists
The theme of this elegant and provocative suite of seven sculptures is species loss. They are subtle and somber reminders of the profound impact of human actions. The birds include the Huia of North Island, New Zealand, last seen in 1907, the Laughing Owl of New Zealand, the Spectacled Cormorant, last seen in 1850, Martha, the last Passenger Pigeon seen in the US in 1914, the Great Auk of the Isle of Puffin, the Dodo and the Pink Headed Duck, last seen in 1945.
A Bridge to Africa (2001)
Jim Hirschfield & Sonya Ishii Mixed Media Sponsored by Bob and Bonnie Meeker
Collectively, the bridge art elements are indicative of a journey to Africa, where the landscape is extraordinary. The canoes; water carrier, proverbs and pots; and Ola, the Water Bearer story, symbolize the importance of water to life in Africa.
Ola the Water Bearer
Barbara Tazewell
OLA, the Water Bearer was commissioned by the North Carolina Zoo to illustrate to children the importance of fresh water for all living creatures. The story is set in Africa where water is often scarce and is featured under the African Pavilion of the Zoo. The printed book uses collage and batik illustrations to maintain an African flavor and is printed on textured paper.
For more information on Barbara Tazewell, or Ola the Water Bearer, contact The Randolph Arts Guild