Willie B.

Portrait of lowland silverback Gorilla, Willie B. commissioned by Zoo Atlanta.

This much-loved local celebrity charmed the citizens of Atlanta, GA for the 39 years he lived at the zoo. Confined alone to an indoor cage for 27 years before an outside group enclosure was built, he became a symbol of the need for zoos to provide more natural environments that took the animal’s psychological needs into consideration.

Several scenes in the video “The Life and Times of Willie B.” show the artist in his studio creating the sculpture.