12Bernard the Deep Thinker
“Wise Elephant” by Trevor O’Tool (b. 1987), 2019 · cast bronze, wood & stainless steel — with “Gerenuk” by Kent Ullberg, N.A. (b. 1945), 2011 · cast bronze · given by Elizabeth and Brian Mitchell (Wise Elephant) and Betsy and Clifton Robinson (Gerenuk) · Waco Sculpture Zoo, a Creative Waco & City of Waco project, dedicated 2020
An elephant, a park bench, one very big thought — and a tiny bird who runs the whole show.
Halfway to the zoo, Bernard sat down on this bench to think one very big thought. He's been thinking it since 2020. Elephants never forget, but they also never rush. His tiny friend Pip waits on the tip of his tusk, ready to hear the answer the moment it arrives. Nearby, Tippy the gerenuk — part antelope, part ballerina — stands all the way up on her back legs, reaching for one perfect leaf that is always, always one inch too high. She will get it. She has no doubt.