Funded by the Downtown Merchants Local Improvement District, TriMet and the United States Department of Transportation, the sculptures were presented as gifts to the city and remain part of the collection of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Animals in Pools is a series of ten trough-style fountains and twenty-five life size bronze sculptures of Pacific Northwest animals, designed by American artist Georgia Gerber and installed in 1986 as part of the renovations associated with MAX Light Rail construction.
[1][2] Funded by the Downtown Merchants Local Improvement District, TriMet and the United States Department of Transportation, the sculptures were presented as gifts to the city.
[4] Gerber described Animals in Pools as "art for the people", designed in a way that encourages interactivity and "[brings] a bit of Pacific Northwestern wildlife to downtown in a fun and unexpected way".
[1] Depicted animals include a mother bear fishing for her two cubs, beavers, deer, ducks, otters, and sea lions.