City Court Gate
Harold Rittenberry
2003
City Court of Atlanta
This steel gate to the Municipal Court Building depicts a landscape scene with a man sitting under a tree. A pond, birds, the sun, and other figures are cut out of the metal. ”I see things and they’ll speak to me awhile, sometimes I’ll even have a dream about them, and then after awhile it comes out in the drawing,” artist Harold Rittenberry explains, noting in the case of many of the tree drawings, the work is from his memory of trees and woods that are no longer there. ”It’s a protest in my mind about deforestation,” he continues. ”I draw the trees so people can see them and it puts it in their minds how beautiful they are. … I read somewhere a long time ago that when the settlers came here, you could walk across the tops of trees all the way across the country to the California coast,” he says. ”But you can’t do that anymore.”
From Athens, Georgia, the artist did not start making official pieces until later in life. He began experimenting with a blowtorch and works primarily with metal, though he also creates drawings and mixed media works. He draws inspiration from the natural world, and aspects in all of his works have meanings.
City Court of Atlanta
150 Garnett St SW
Atlanta, GA 30303