Sears Garden Unveiled
The new Larry Sears and Sally Zlotnick Sears Garden, featuring the iconic Mammoth and Mastodon sculptures created by world-renowned Cleveland artist Viktor Schreckengost, was unveiled during a ribbon-cutting ceremony August 12, 2016. The event marked the return of the beloved artwork to public view in the Sears Garden, which serves as a community canvas welcoming visitors to University Circle at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and East Boulevard.
“The Schreckengosts are part of our public exhibit space as well as a celebration of our city’s rich arts and cultural history,” said Dr. Evalyn Gates, executive director and CEO of The Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
The massive Schreckengost terra-cotta relief sculptures are the focal point of the garden. The sculptures, which depict an adult mammoth and adult mastodon each standing next to an offspring, are mounted on a 32-foot-high limestone wall. The sculptures consist of 88 tiles, each weighing 400 to 600 pounds.
The sculptures were on display at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo for more than 50 years before they were removed to make way for its elephant exhibit. The Zoo generously offered to loan them to the Museum. The sculptures were carefully cleaned and restored by ICA Art Conservation, which de-installed the artwork at the Zoo. Cleveland Marble and Mosaic Company orchestrated the highly-engineered installation in the Sears Garden.
The Museum gratefully acknowledges the following individuals and organizations for their generous support of the Sears Garden:
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Larry Sears and Museum Trustee Sally Zlotnick Sears
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Holden Parks Trust
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Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
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Toby D. Lewis
The Sears Garden is part of the first phase of the Museum's #CMNH100 project, a major expansion and renovation that will completely transform the Museum’s campus for its 100-year anniversary in 2020. Phase 1 also includes a 300-space parking garage that opened in June 2016 and the all-new
Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center & Woods Garden — Presented by KeyBank, which opens September 3, 2016.
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