Pachyderms

A Mastadon and a Mammoth, both with young stand below the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to greet all visitors to University Circle. The Mastodon is an imposing 12 feet by 25 feet, made from 37 different terra cotta pieces, each weighing 600 pounds. The Mammoth is even bigger: 13.5 feet by 25 feet made from 59 differerent 600 lb pieces. Each creature is made from four different clays which, when fired, created four distinct tones that were then stained.

These Gargantuan Pachyderms were not always standing triumphantly along Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., however. They were initially installed on the wall of the Cleveland Metropark Zoo's Pachyderm Building in 1956 until the building was taken down in 2008. They remained in storage until their reemergence in University Circle in 2015.

Schreckengost was a world renowned designer, sculptor, and artist whose impact on functional design resonated with people for generations, far beyond his native Cleveland, OH.