Harold Rittenberry Jr. twists and turns scrap metal — bits and pieces others might cast aside — into something beautiful and thought-provoking.
Rittenberry, a native of Athens, mostly sculpts now, but he’s created art since he was a child.
“Creating art is something I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” he said. “Life is full of art. I like all of it, and I try to do all of it.”
In his earlier days, that included drawing and painting. Although he still dabbles in those mediums, now he works mostly in steel. And those large metal sculptures are meant to both share beauty and tell a story.
Rittenberry’s artwork and the meaningful pieces he’s created were recognized recently with the President’s Fulfilling the Dream Award. Presented at the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Breakfast held Jan. 17, the award recognizes students, faculty, staff and community members who exemplify the words and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Your body has to eat to survive, and your mind is fed with art,” he said. “You never stop learning, and art is part of that.”
Two of Rittenberry’s most recent creations sit in the courtyard of the newly renovated Holmes-Hunter Academic Building. He was commissioned to create two benches in honor of Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault, the first African American students to attend the University of Georgia. The benches carry special meaning for Rittenberry, as he happened to be walking downtown and saw Holmes and Hunter-Gault pull up in front of the Arch to walk into that same building to register for classes in 1961, integrating the university.
“Some people sculpt with hammers and chisels. I sculpt with fire,” he said.
Harold Rittenberry Jr. works on benches for the Hunter-Holmes Academic Building. (Photo by Dorothy Kozlowski/UGA)
Rittenberry first began working with steel on a whim but quickly found he enjoyed working with metal and fire. The material can be unforgiving, but he enjoys the process of finding out what the sculpture will become.
“It’s sort of a mystery. It’s like a judge or a lawyer trying to solve a crime. You’re trying not to waste it; you want to maximize every bit of material,” he said.
Take an old plow, for example. Under Rittenberry’s hands, that could become a beautiful bird or even a flower.
“You can take something that was once destructive and give it light. Now it might be a beacon,” he said. “That’s the way art is.”
Rittenberry’s pieces can be seen around Athens and beyond. Around town, his work can be seen at Memorial Park’s Bear Hollow Zoo, Sandy Creek Nature Center, the West Broad School, Rocksprings Park and Community Center, Piedmont College’s Athens campus, the Georgia Museum of Art, the Lyndon House Arts Center, the Athens-Clarke County Library and Brooklyn Cemetery. He also has artwork on display in Atlanta and internationally in Europe and Canada.
In addition to enlightening and inspiring others, Rittenberry also hopes his work makes people smile and brightens their day.
“I can be out one day looking up at the sky and spot something or walk along the street and see something that appeals to me. I might be eating lunch, and someone’s plate might inspire me to do something,” he said. “It’s just something I have to do.”
